Like a Walk in the Park
by xxhikari E
Summary: AU. The students of Shiniko High School and Takatori Academy are arch rivals. An over summer cruise is set out to change that. Sakura x Kiba. HIATUS.
1. Chapter One

**Like a Walk in the Park**

**Summary - AU The students of Shiniko High School and Takatori Academy are arch rivals. A over summer cruise is set out to attempt to change that. Sakura x Kiba.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any of the characters.**

**A/N: Hello fellow readers! An idea that has been bouncing around in my mind for a while. It sounded too fun to give up on. There are going to be some original characters in this, feel free to give suggestions. The entire Naruto cast couldn't be enough for two schools. Enjoy!**

**Chapter One**

The auditorium of Takatori Academy was racked with hyper and happy juniors. Who wouldn't be after being excused from your sixth period class? Loud conversations and laughter were heard throughout the room, with a bit of squealing and giggling here and there. All conversations led to one thing; Why were they here? It's not everyday the principal calls the whole year down to the auditorium without any prior notice. It seemed like _nobody_ knew what was going on.

**Camera zoom on a group of giggling girls**.

"Like, I heard, that there was going to be, like, twenty hot transfer students coming!"

"But, like, that's impossible. There's only, like, two weeks of school left!"

"Like, hello? Does it look like I know?"

"Whatever."

**Camera zoom on the pranksters whispering**.

"I heard Ms. Yameda got murdered."

"She's right there, you dumb-ass!"

"Damn."

**Camera zoom on 'nerds'**.

"I refuse to believe I got an 89 in math! 89! My parents will be disappointed."

"I only joined thirteen extra curricular clubs this year! Think about how mad _my_ parents will be!"

**Camera zoom on student council**.

"_Why_ didn't I know about this meeting? Why be in the student council, when they don't tell you shit!"

"Calm down now..."

"I need to have a talk with Principle Tsunade!"

"You do that..."

**Camera zoom to random people**.

"I heard they're getting rid of the uniform rule."

"Haha, let's not get _that_ far now."

**Camera zoom to a couple of people in the back**.

"Sakura!"

Haruno Sakura turned around at her name being called. She raised an eyebrow at her fraternal twin brother, sitting a couple seats behind her. "What's up?"

"Do you know what this whole thing's about?"

Sakura shook her head, "I'm just glad to get out of physics. We were about to take a huge 'before-summer-torture' test that I had completely forgotten to study for."

"Sounds like something you would do," a cheerful voice spoke up.

Sakura's head snapped to the direction of the person sitting next to her brother and glared. Oh, how she wished he was within kicking distance. "Shut it, Inuzuka!" She turned her head back to her brother. "Seriously, why are you friends with that guy?"

Haruno Seiichi rolled his green eyes, the only thing the twins really had in common with one another. Appearance wise, at least. "When are you going to stop asking me that?"

"When you dump him!"

"That just sounded wrong."

Sakura felt someone tap her shoulder. She turned around to face her best friend, Tenten, who was currently smiling. "What?"

"Why do you hate that guy so much?" She asked, amused.

The pink-haired girl rolled her eyes. "I _told_ you," she said. "He's an egotistical jerk. He thinks he owns the world. I'm here to remind him that he doesn't."

Tenten shook her head. "He's not that bad. I mean," she added hastily when Sakura sent her an incredulous look, "I was his lab partner once, and he seemed okay. Plus, he's cute."

Sakura sighed and smacked a hand against her overly large forehead. Why did all girls find him so _cute_? Were they _blind_? Or _deaf_ maybe. She shook her head and gave her friend a sad smile. "Tenten dear, I'm sorry to say that you're another poor victim to his stupid charms. Another purpose for me in life is to save you." She patted her head, "And I will, don't worry." she vowed.

Tenten rolled her eyes. "Seriously though. You two have been enemies for what, eleven years?"

"Ten years, eleven months, two weeks, and four days." Sakura replied automatically.

Tenten gave her a look, then shrugged. "Don't you think it's a bit juvenile? What did he do to make you two enemies?"

"A lot of things. It'd take more than a day to list them." She paused. "Like one time when

we were six, he threw a snowball at my face."

Tenten raised an eyebrow. "But you love playing in the snow, Kura. And you were _six_!"

"That's not the point!" Sakura cried exasperatedly.

Tenten looked at her curiously. "Then what is?"

"We specifically agreed above the shoulders. _And_ the snowball had a pebble in it. Now, tell me that wasn't nice!"

"It wasn't," Tenten agreed reluctantly, "but he was a little kid back then! I bet he doesn't even remember doing that."

"Oh, he does," Sakura retorted. "Trust me, he does."

"Yes, I do." came a voice from behind.

Sakura spun around and met dark brown eyes. A childish grin had settled itself on his mouth. _One kick where the sun don't shine, and it'll be gone. _Her eyes narrowed. _Damn, too far away again. He'd probably dodge anyways. _One thing she couldn't argue about was that Inuzuka Kiba was stronger than her.

"Mind your own business, Inuzuka." she said wearily, "Who invited you anyways?"

He shrugged in return. "It's not my fault you were talking so loud. By the way, I'm happy to hear you were talking about me. Really, I am. Glad to know that you're thinking about me." He waggled his eyebrows suggestively.

Sakura only glared in return. "Yes, I am always thinking about you. Thinking about ways to torture and kill you, without anyone suspecting a thing. It gets more creative each time." She grinned maliciously.

Kiba shook his head and turned to Seiichi, "One violent sister you have there." he said amusedly.

Seiichi shrugged. He looked bored. "They're empty threats. The worst she could do is land a weak punch on you."

"Seiichi!" Sakura whined, "You're suppose to be on my side!"

Her brother feigned a look of bewilderment. "I am?"

"Yes! You are! You're—"

She was cut off by a loud screeching noise that echoed throughout the room. Everyone winced, some covering their ears.

"Testing, testing, one two three. Hah, I always wanted to say that and actually mean it." a voice said through the microphone. "Eh, sorry about that."

Chatter began to spread once again.

"Good afternoon, juniors of Takatori Academy!" A woman with long blonde hair in two pig tails greeted.

A couple of "Good afternoon, Principle Tsunade!"s were heard here and there.

Tsunade ignored the lack of enthusiasm. "Well, all of you must be wondering what this is all about," she said. Whispering started. "You lot, are going to be seniors of Takatori Academy next year. Well, most of you." She shot a look towards the people chatting in the back. "And you must be role models for the younger students. I'm sure you are all familiar with Shiniko High School?"

The moment she said that, there was an eruption of boos, choking noises, and hisses. One person even yelled out "Shiniko sucks ass!" And as sad as it may seem, most agreed whole-heartedly.

The principle smiled wryly and continued with her speech after the noise died down. "That very much proves my point. Takatori Academy has an extreme rivalry with Shiniko High School, and it has come to our attention that this 'friendly competition' is no longer very friendly. Because of this, we have decided to do something about it." She paused for what seemed like an eternity, "You are going on a cruise."

After recovering from surprise, there was an explosion of cheers, hoots, and applause. Though most juniors did not know how this was related to Shiniko students, the word "cruise" was enough for them. Some of the girls squealed and jumped up, screaming, "Like, I can't believe it! A cruise! Hot, half-naked men!"

There were some who did not join in the celebration, including Sakura. "There's a catch, dumb-asses,"she muttered.

The noise in the auditorium died down after a few minutes. When everyone was silent, Tsunade smiled at the student body, aware of what was going to happen next.

"Let me rephrase that." She paused. "You are going on a cruise with the students from Shiniko."

There were some scattered yells of "What the fuck?" and "This is bullshit!" Noise broke out once again, only this time, it didn't sound too happy.

"I'm not going to socialize with any of those jerks!"

"I can't believe they're doing this to us!"

"Eww! Shiniko freaks!"

"I'm not going!"

A woman with dark hair stepped up and muttered something quietly enough for only the principal to hear.

"Silence!" Tsunade called out with her loud, scary voice. Everything quieted down instantly. The principal always had this strange power on everyone. She was the type who could make a student cower to a corner with one fierce glare.

"Good," she said, complimenting the silence. "Now, the soon-to-be seniors at Shiniko will be joining you in this cruise. There, you will be forced to socialize _nicely_ with them. By the end of the cruise, I expect you to be _friendly_ rivals. Should you decide not to partake on this little assignment, you will do a heavy load of seat work. I think a cruise sounds more appealing than that, don't you? Anyway, the cruise will take up one month of your summer vacation. The costs, packing list, safety rules, and everything else will be discussed by your homeroom teachers. Good day."

She strutted out of the auditorium with a satisfied grin plastered on her face, looking very, very, proud of herself.

**.o.o.o. **

"I don't get what the big deal is." Sakura shook her head as the juniors fled out of the auditorium. Many of them were cursing the Shiniko students under their breaths.

"Because you're not in any sports teams," Tenten sighed. "I think you and I are the only ones that don't really care, even if I am on a team. It's just a stupid rivalry."

"It's not a stupid rivalry!" A nearby boy shouted, scowling. "Shiniko students are losers!"

Sakura rolled her eyes and tightened her hold on the textbooks in her arms. "I'm getting out of here."

Tenten nodded in agreement, then smiled. "I'll see you later."

"Bye." Sakura headed towards her physics class. _I hope we don't have enough time to take the test. Maybe I can stall by-_

"Hello, Princess Sakura!" An all-to-familiar voice called out.

She groaned loudly. Rock Lee. After saving him once from a dodge ball—she was really just passing by and got thwacked in the head when she bent down the pick up her fallen pen—he bothered her non-stop. "Princess Sakura! May I carry your book(s)?" "My cherry blossom, where are you going? Can I come?" "Sakura, may I walk you to your next class?" Sometimes she wished she hadn't just _happened_ to walk past the gym.

She picked up her pace, hoping to avoid him as she pretended to not hear him.

Unfortunately, she wasn't lucky. He caught up in no time. _No duh, Sakura, number one on the track team?_

"Hey, Sakura!" Lee greeted, waving his hand slightly.

"Hi." She replied dully. She slowed her pace down because it would've been pointless to try to get away. She was fast, but not that fast.

"Can you believe it, Sakura? We're actually going on a cruise! Are you going? Well, you should go because you'll be doing seat work if you don't! I don't like the idea of talking to Shiniko students, though. I still can't forgive them for beating us at the track meet back in March! It was because of that Ayugai Eijiro! Didn't want to remove that lip piercing... Hey, have you heard of him?"

"Nope."

"Really? Oh. Anyway, I suppose it won't be that bad. But some students are pretty upset. I am a bit, but not that much. I think the ones that are most upset are football and basketball players. They're really competitive, you know? So are you upset?"

"No."

"Oh, that's good! There should be more people like you, you know. You're always so friendly. Oh, hey! Which class are you going to now? Can I walk you there? I don't care if it's far away from mine. I'll just follow you, is that all right? Oh! What did you get on your Macbeth test, by the way? I got a 95, which isn't too bad, but I could have done better. No… I should have done better! My parents are going to be pretty disappointed. They have high expectations for me, you know. I don't—"

"Go to class, Lee." said _another_ all-to-familiar voice from behind.

Sakura stopped walking abruptly and turned around. "Oh, hey Inuzuka." she said unenthusiastically. "I don't have time."

"I'm not here to bother you for once. Just telling Lee here, to get to class."

Lee puffed up. "For your information, I'm keeping my darling Sakura company!" he said bravely, which was quite normal for him. He was always confident in himself.

Kiba raised an eyebrow. He stepped forward and pulled out a little card, making himself appear somewhat intimidating. Sakura watched with amusement as Lee gasped and almost felt sorry for him.

"My teacher made me hall monitor for the week, it's my job." Kiba stated lamely. "Besides, can't you see that she's busy and doesn't want you here?"

Lee looked positively shocked. "W-what? Sakura loves my company! I'm a good friend to her! I always help her with stuff, and not once have I gotten mad at her!" He turned to the girl in question. "Tell him, Kura."

Kiba chuckled. "Yeah, 'Kura', tell him."

Sakura growled. "Don't call me that. I'm leaving, neither of you follow me." For all she cared, they could argue all day, as long as she wasn't there to hear them.

**.o.o.o.**

Sakura and Tenten walked down the sidewalk, each holding an ice cream cone. She was looking forward to meeting Shiniko students. Sakura actually thought about going there at the end of junior high, but by the time she took it into consideration, Kiba and Seiichi had already had their hearts set on Takatori.

"You're going, right?" Tenten questioned as she fixed her navy blue skirt.

Sakura nodded, "Of course. I'd rather meet new people on a one month cruise than do seat work." she cringed at the thought. "You?"

"I'm not sure."

She gasped and turned to face the brunette. "Why not?" she demanded.

Tenten cast her eyes straight ahead. "I'm not sure if my parents could afford it..."

"Oh." Sakura mentally smacked herself. How could she forget that Tenten didn't have the money like she did? Her parents were barely able to pay for the tuition fee. They were not as well off as Sakura's family. She felt stupid now. Sakura knew money was a sensitive topic for Tenten. "Sorry." She paused. "Hey… my parents can pay for it!"

Tenten visibly winced. Didn't Sakura know how she just made the situation even more embarrassing? It was like damn charity! "No …that's all right."

"No," Sakura insisted. "It could be an early graduation gift. You know you're practically family, right?"

Tenten shrugged. "Maybe."

Sakura smiled, proud of her accomplishment. She blinked and her whole mood changed.

"Hurry up."

"What's the rush?"

"Kiba's headed towards this direction."

"How can you tell?" Tenten asked curiously.

Sakura sped up her pace, "I can feel the sparks."

Tenten grinned, "Sparks of love?"

She gaped. "No! Of course not! Sparks of hatred!" She corrected.

"Right."

**A/N: 12-29-05 **


	2. Chapter Two

**Like a Walk in the Park**

**Summary - AU The students of Shiniko High School and Takatori Academy are arch rivals. A over summer cruise is set out to attempt to change that. Sakura x Kiba.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any of the characters.**

**A/N: Yay! New chappie! Big thanks to all of the reviewers! A lot of people commenting on the pairing. :P**

**Mistress DragonFlame** . **Hahahaha. That made me laugh after realizing what 'pranksters' you were talking about. But yeah, Thanks!**

**Chapter Two**

Sakura entered her house and was greeted with silence. It was normal; her parents were what some people would call workaholics. The kind that were too busy to bond with their kids and instead, bought them loads of stuff to make up for it.

She walked up to her room and changed into a white tee and some decent jean shorts. She swiftly tied her bubble-gum pink hair into a high ponytail and looked in the mirror.

Haruno Sakura was not what you would call 'ugly' or 'stunningly beautiful'. The right term for her would be 'pretty cute'. She was skinny—maybe a bit too skinny. She didn't have the curves like other girls did, but her smile made up for it.

Now Tenten, _she_ was what people would call 'beautiful'. She had long wavy tawny hair. She rarely released her hair from her scrunchie, but when she did, she was in the spotlight. The weird thing was, Tenten didn't want the attention. Despite her stunning looks, she was the stubborn type. She would never approach a guy unless she knew he wasn't a sex-crazed bastard, and that's only one of the reasons. If they were to approach her… Well, they would get a punch in the stomach.

Sakura could be pretty violent as well, even more so than Tenten. Whenever she talked to a guy who showed no interest in wanting to be more than just friends, she would treat him as she would treat a girlfriend. However, when a guy began his…advances, _then_ she would get violent. It was funny, really. Thankfully, that rarely happened. Guys flocked to girls like Sabakuno Temari, a graduating senior, not her—but she didn't care. Sakura didn't want a boyfriend. In fact, she never had one. Sure, there were those random dates here and there, but it never went a level higher than that.

Both girls met at the beginning of their freshman year and had become close friends ever since. Sakura supposed that they were best friends, but neither of them had ever clarified it. Tenten was very reserved and stubborn back then, so she didn't make many friends. That is, until she met Sakura. At the beginning, all Sakura got from her was a "Hello," but in the end, Tenten opened up. After this, Sakura began introducing the girl to a everyone she knew.

The most common thing about these two girls was that they didn't dress up. They didn't beautify themselves. No make-up, no hair colorings (Sakura's hair was one-hundred percent natural, thank you very much,) no heavy jewelry, no boob jobs. Not even the slightest bit of lip-gloss or eyeliner was ever found on their faces. Talk about natural beauty, hm? Their clothes and accessories were decent. Just decent. Tenten was a bit more modest than Sakura though. One example would be, Sakura didn't mind tank tops, but Tenten wouldn't wear one unless it was completely necessary. But, other than that, they were similar. No halters, strapless tops, mini-skirts, short-shorts, three-inch high-heeled boots. Some girls laughed at them for being 'behind fashion,' but they didn't care.

Satisfied with how she looked, Sakura walked downstairs and made a beeline to the kitchen. She smelled food. She smiled, knowing that Emiko, her and Seiichi's 50-year-old nanny, was baking her chocolate sandwich cookies with vanilla-cream filling.

"Hey, Emiko." she greeted cheerfully. She sniffed in the aroma and sighed happily.

"Hello Sakura." Emiko smiled. "Care for some cookies?" She gestured towards the plate of fresh-from-the-oven cookies.

Sakura beamed. "How could I resist?" She reached over and grabbed a handful.

"Pig." a voice said from the doorway.

Sakura turned around and glared when her eyes landed on Kiba. "Don't you have a home to go to?"

He shrugged. "It's only 7:00," he stated as he entered the kitchen, "Hello, my dear Emiko!" he greeted happily.

A fond smile made it's way to Emiko's lips. "Hello Kiba, care for some?" she said, once again gesturing toward the cookies. Her eyes crinkled in amusement as he also grabbed a handful.

"Thanks!" He began chewing the cookies barbarically.

Sakura stuck her tongue out. "Look who's talking, you oversized cow."

He raised an eyebrow, but continued eating. "Hey, I'm a growing man."

Sakura shook her head in disgust as bits of cookies fell out of his mouth. "Hah, you might want to rethink that."

He scowled. Emiko laughed as the two of them glared hatefully at each other. "Haven't you two had enough of this nonsense? Can't you make a peace treaty or something of the sort?"

"I would if it wasn't him." Sakura mumbled, biting into her cookie.

Before Kiba could retort, Haruno Seiichi made his grand entrance.

Seiichi was the kind of guy everyone got along with, from the jocks to nerds. Everyone had a soft spot for him, it seemed. Maybe it was his great charisma and 'charming' personality. Too bad Sakura had neither. She supposed it was also because of his looks. Girls always approached her, begging her to set them up. She found it really discomforting. It was her _brother_ for God's sake!

Seiichi had big emerald eyes like Sakura's. Instead of shockingly pink hair, he had straight, jet black hair. It was always messy, but girls said it added to his looks. He was almost an exact replica of his father, some would say. He was tall, and had a fairly strong build. Seiichi wasn't in any sports, but he would always join his buddies for a little hockey or football. Sakura guessed everyone loved him because he was down-to-earth and laid-back. Plus the fact that he had a good sense of humor.

"Hello my loved ones!" He grinned and slapped Sakura on the back.

Sakura choked as a bit of un-chewed cookie slid down her throat. She waved her hands frantically for Emiko to help her.

When everything was down, she looked up at her brother and glared. "Thanks." She said dully.

"No problem little sis!" He smiled.

"I'm not your little sis."

"Yes you are. I'm four minutes older."

"Like that matters."

"It does!" Seiichi protested.

Sakura rolled her eyes. "Sure."

"So are you going on the cruise?" He asked. He took a cookie and ate it in small bites.

She nodded. "Why do seat work when you can go on a cruise? I'm looking forward to

socializing with the Shiniko students."

Seiichi also nodded. "That's true. It's always good to meet new people."

Someone suddenly banged his fist on the counter. The twins snapped their head towards Kiba, who was scowling at them.

"You two are such traitors!" he whined. "No way would they get me to talk to Shiniko freaks. I'd rather watch _The Notebook_! I can't believe you're actually thinking about being friends with those… those _creatures_."

Seiichi rolled his eyes. "Just because you're on the soccer team doesn't mean you have to hold a strong grudge against them. Lighten up, dude. Who knows? Maybe you'll meet a hot Shiniko chick."

Sakura snorted. "Seiichi, don't make me laugh."

Kiba shot her a glare, but she just scoffed and rolled her eyes. "No," Kiba retorted, turning to Seiichi. "I will not lighten up. I hate those Serpents!" 'Serpents' was Shiniko's sports teams name. Takatori's sports teams were the "Ninjas."

"Um…what is this about?" said a curious, elderly voice. All three turned, startled. They were all so caught up in the heated conversation that they had forgotten about Emiko's presence.

Sakura smiled at her. "Since we are going to be the seniors next school year, and therefore the 'role models,' we're being sent off on a cruise, along with the soon-to-be-seniors of Shiniko High School." She sighed. "Remember the fierce, unfriendly rivalry that's been going on since forever? Well, Principal Tsunade finally decided to put a stop to it. The purpose of the trip is for us to sort out our differences and be 'friendly rivals' once again."

Emiko beamed. "Why, that's wonderful!" she exclaimed excitedly.

"It is not!" Kiba countered.

Emiko sighed. "Kiba dear, Seiichi and Sakura are right. It should end sometime, or some people might get hurt."

He let out a cry of frustration. "Those two," he said, pointing at the twins, "are not involved in sports or anything, so they don't know what it is like." He growled. "I don't care. I'm not going and I'm not supporting the idea."

"Then you'll do boring seat-work," Seiichi reminded him, wagging his finger.

"Rather do seat-work." Kiba muttered.

Sakura squealed. "You're really not going?" She clasped her hands together and looked up, as if praising the heavens. "Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!" she chanted, not bothering to hide her happiness.

Kiba rolled his eyes. "That's right Kura. Trust me, you're not the only one that's thrilled."

Sakura only grinned and continued chanting.

"I'm going to have to join in on that bet." Seiichi muttered quietly.

"What bet?" the two of them questioned in unison, snapping their head towards Seiichi's direction.

"Oh, nothing." Seiichi quickly replied. He smacked himself on the forehead. _Nice going Seiichi… Real nice..._ After trying to ignore the glares and questioning look given to him, he gave up. "You know, that one about you two ending up together by the end of senior year..."

There was complete silence. Sakura gaped and Kiba was glared murderously at Seiichi, who was calmly sitting there, eating his cookie while avoiding all eyes. Emiko was in the background, successfully biting back her laughter.

Kiba broke the silence. "Seiichi…"

"Yepp?"

"Are you taking drugs?"

Emiko smacked Kiba on the back of his head with her spatula. "Of course he's not!" She said. She then turned to Seiichi. "Are you?" she asked cautiously.

Seiichi gasped. "I can't believe my loved one would think that about me!"

"Seiichi... Where on earth did you get that bet from?" Sakura asked, after recovering for shock.

"Oh, everyone knows it! Ask anyone. A bet on whether you two will end up together or not." He paused. "Don't tell them I told you though."

"Is everyone in our grade _insane_? Why would I end up with this jerk?" Sakura exploded.

"I hate him, remember?"

Kiba rolled his eyes. "The feeling is mutual, darling." He said dryly.

Seiichi grinned. "See! You're already calling each other pet names! I'm so proud! Group hug!" he stood up and tried to enforce the hug, but the two stepped back just in time.

"Now, brother dearest, who exactly is participating in this bet?" she said. She put on the cutest smile she could on her face and put her arm around his shoulder.

He shrugged. "Practically everyone in our year. Seventy percent of the people voting think you two will end up together, and the other thirty percent are mostly girls who they have a chance with my buddy over here." He said, slapping Kiba on the back.

"Which is possible." Kiba chirped. "I'm not ending up with her, and you _will_ bet on us _not_ ending up together."

Seiichi tilted his head to the side, scratching his non-existent goatee. "I don't know, I'm thinking about going on the side that think you two will end up together."

Sakura shook her head. "Listen closely. The jerk and I solemnly swear that we are not going to end up together. Right?" she said, addressing Kiba.

Kiba nodded, agreeing with her for once. "Right."

Sakura turned back to her brother. "Now that you have our word on that, here's what you're going to do: you're going to join the side that thinks we're not going to end up together, and put in a lot of money for it. It's a sure win since we already have given you our word. So… you're going to do that, right?" she asked sweetly.

Seiichi hesitated. "I don't know—ouch!" he cried when he felt his sister grip him hard on the shoulder. He didn't know that she possessed that kind of strength in her. It _hurt_.

"Right?"

Seiichi sighed in defeat. "Right."

Sakura smiled and patted his head. "Good boy. Bye!" she said as she ran out of the kitchen.

It was Kiba's turn to talk now. "It's a sure win, bro," he said. "No way am I going to like your sister in _that_ way. Wait, wait. Let me correct that: No way am I going to like your sister, period." He grinned impishly. "So once you win, we'll split the money, alright?"

Seiichi was about to protest, but Kiba cut him off. "Right. Okay, I have to go. See you later! Thanks for the cookies, Emiko!"

Emiko smiled. "No problem, dear."

Kiba grinned and as he passed his best friend, he gripped his aching shoulder. Seiichi yelped and would have tackled his best friend down, therefore resulting in a friendly fistfight, but decided against it. He would have to wait until he was in better condition, or he'd get beaten into a pulp.

Emiko and Seiichi were alone now.

"Okay," Emiko said lightly, "now I can let it all out."

She burst out laughing. Seiichi merely stared, slightly confused as to why she was laughing in the first place. When the elderly woman finally sobered, she wiped a small tear from her eye and smiled.

"You're not going to believe what they just said, are you?" she asked.

Seiichi shook his head and grinned. "Nah.

**.o.o.o.**

As soon as Sakura reached her room, she picked up her cellular phone and dialed a number.

"Hello?" A voice answered.

"Tenten! Did you know about the bet with me and Kiba?" Sakura questioned.

Her friend let out a chuckle. "Everyone does, silly."

"You knew, and you didn't tell me?" Sakura pouted.

Even though Tenten couldn't see it, she knew what Sakura was doing. "Well,"

"Yes?" She urged her to go on.

"I thought you knew?" Tenten replied lamely. "Your rivalry is well known throughout the school. People find it amusing."

"They think it's _funny_?" Sakura hissed. Did people enjoy seeing her irritated? Her anger towards Kiba was not _funny_. She sighed and decided it would be a good time to change the subject. "Anyways, my parents decided on paying for your trip. An early graduation gift, you know?" She actually hadn't asked her parents yet, but she was quite certain they would agree. They were quite familiar with Tenten and had more than enough money to pay for it. It was surprising for Sakura, since her parents rarely spent time with them.

"W-what?" Tenten stuttered, which wasn't normal for her. "Sakura, I don't…"

"Don't worry about it," Sakura said. "They love you, you know. Just as much as they love me."

Tenten scoffed. "Crazy girl..."

"Yeah, yeah." She paused. "So you're coming, and that's final. You can't refuse, Tenten. I won't let you!"

"But Sakura, I—"

"You can't refuse," Sakura repeated firmly. "If you don't go, then I won't either," she added.

"Why?"

She rolled her eyes. "Because the whole cruise would be boring without you! Honestly, Tenten."

Tenten sighed. "Alright," she said. "I'll ask my parents, okay?"

Sakura smiled, happy with her number of accomplishments today. "Awesome!"

**A/N: January 2006.**


	3. Chapter Three

**Like a Walk in the Park**

**Summary - AU The students of Shiniko High School and Takatori Academy are arch rivals. A over summer cruise is set out to attempt to change that. Sakura x Kiba.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any of the characters.**

**A/N: Heya, fellow fiction readers. :) Ohmygosh I'm finally back from my half-year absence! I kept making changes to this chapter and I was trying to get some input from my friends. My beta-reader told me to make this a long one, just to make up for the wait. I tried. :) I was pretty surprised that I still got reviews five months after posting the last chapter, but hey, I'm not complaining. xD**

**Lethal Spirit : Thanks! About your question "Is this the end?" Nope. Far from it. I have a truck load of stuff to write in. **

**Heartless Ghost : Thanks! Well, Naruto is mentioned in this chapter. Sasuke and Neji will be mentioned, I don't think I'll be able to put Itachi in this story and make it work though.**

**Mistress DragonFlame : Don't bet on it. :P This story will be full of weird surprises. Aw, I can't believe I forgot all about Akamaru! In my other story, I put him in, and he was completely ignored after the chapter he was introduced, but I'll try to add a twist to this one. :D**

**EnV : Thanks! Haha. You made me laugh. :) It's weird though, I created him, and I can't even picture what he looks like..**

**Bunches of thanks to my beta-reader "Mango xx". (Stop changing your pen-name, missy!)**

**Chapter Three**

"FIVE! FOUR! THREE! TWO.. ONE!"

The school bell resonated loudly throughout the walls of Takatori Academy, signaling that the school year was officially over. Loud cheers, hoots, and applause exploded in every classroom, even a few teachers began celebrating. Less than a second later, the halls were packed with loud, laughing, students, talking about nothing but freedom and summer plans.

There were, however, a couple of people here and there who stood out amongst the crowds. The massive group of students consisted mostly of smiling faces. What made this particular group different was that they wore glum expressions. Yes, these people were the juniors- or more like the ex-juniors. They were not so pleased about the end of the school year, it meant that they had only four days until the cruise. Four days until extreme torture, according to many of the newly appointed seniors.

Sakura, Tenten, Seiichi, and a few other people, were luckily not part of the miserable crew. They were excited about the trip, as they have repeated many times. Most of their classmates looked at them disgustedly, shaking their heads and muttering 'traitor' under their breaths, yet they were ignored.

"All packed yet?" Sakura questioned her best-friend as she slid into the drivers seat of her car.

Tenten shook her head, "I still need a swim-suit." she shifted her body into a comfortable position in the passengers seat and buckled up her seat belt.

"Good, I still need my dress." Sakura stated, she started the car and began to back out of the parking lot, "Why do we need dress clothes anyways? It's a cruise, we're suppose to be relaxing and stuff like that." She paused, and hit the right turn signal. "Well anyways, do you know what the dress is for?"

"Weren't you listening in home-room?" Tenten snorted.

"...No."

She shook her head, "Yeah I thought so. It's for the 'Welcome' party-which is going to be a masquerade ball- and also for the 'Goodbye' party, where we will be unmasked and with the same dresses. I don't know why, I'll ask Yukinta later."

"Oh, really? Is it a costume ball?"

Tenten shook her head. "Not from what I heard. Only masks are required. I heard from the Student Council that it's so we can be more comfortable around them."

They chatted about the cruise for a little while, until they reached the mall.

Sakura immediately dragged Tenten into a swim-wear store, grabbing a variety of them as they walked straight to the changing rooms.

"In!" Sakura ordered, as she shoved the pile into the unsuspecting hands of Tenten, at the same time pushing her into an empty stall. She leaned against the door so she couldn't escape.

Some rustles were heard, followed by a sigh.

"How is it?" The pink-haired girl questioned.

Tenten looked into the wall-length mirror. She spun around and frowned. "I feel like a slut. I was hoping for a one-piece.."

Sakura pouted. "But two-pieces are cheaper- they use less materials to make them."- This wasn't true, of course. Two-pieces usually cost more, in fact.

Inside the stall, Tenten raised an eyebrow. "Uh-huh." She replied monotonously.

"Just try some more on." Sakura got off the door and plopped herself on a nearby couch, picking up a random magazine.

"But-!" An annoying high-pitched voice shrieked.

"I would love to..." A familiar voice said tauntingly. "But how about we just go as friends?"

"Kiba.." The voice sounded almost venomous.

Sakura heard footsteps and quickly shielded her face from view.

"Err... Yukari.." Kiba said, "I'm not looking for a girlfriend right now, but maybe next week?" he finished lamely, mentally slapping himself for his own stupidity.

Murase Yukari raised an eyebrow, "Fine." She turned around, flipping her highlighted orange hair over her shoulder dramatically before walking away, not forgetting to sway her hips as she strut out of the store.

Kiba winced and turning around, he fell onto the couch and sighed loudly. "You can stop hiding now, I see you."

Sakura closed the magazine and threw it on the floor. "How-"

He cut her off with a snort. "Genius- there aren't many people out there with pink hair."

Sakura shot him an annoyed look. "Why are you still here?"

Kiba shrugged. "Seiichi's almost off from his job and he's my ride home-"

"You mean to our house..-"

"-so I went to the only place with a leather couch."

"Oh."

"Yeah.."

A pregnant silence settled between the two, the only noise being the clinks and clanks of clothes hangers being moved.

"I hate you."

"Don't worry, my dear 'Kura," Kiba responded immediately, "It's not one-sided." He got up and blew her a kiss before walking away snickering.

"Yeah? Well, you're ugly!" Sakura shouted, springing up from her seat. Did they just almost have a civil moment? She let out a deep breath and moved back to the changing stall. "Tenten? Almost done?"

"I just finished." The door flung open, hitting Sakura on the back of her head. "Oops, sorry 'bout that." Tenten came out holding a jade green two-piece bathing suit with matching board shorts hanging on her right hand and a pile of rejected ones on the other. "What do you think of this?" She asked, holding her right hand up.

Sakura moved her hand to her head, wincing as she felt a bump form. Her eyes slowly moved up. Mint-green orbs blinked rapidly for a while before finally resting on the swim-wear. "Perfect."

Tenten smiled proudly. "I'm craving some ice cream now, let's go. We can get your dress after."

Sakura agreed. They walked down to the food court, waving to Seiichi as they passed Pizza Palace. The two girls stopped at Kira's Cones ice cream parlor.

"Hello there, what can I do for you two pretty ladies?" Azure eyes shined as Sakura and Tenten took their seats on the brightly colored high-chairs, dropping their bags on the counter.

"Shut it, Naruto." Sakura said, sticking her tongue out.

"The usual?" Naruto asked. He didn't wait for an answer and quickly grabber two waffle cones and an ice cream scooper. "So," He started, scooping up green tea ice cream for one cone, and cookie dough ice cream for the other. "Are you two psyched about the cruise?"

"Very. Are you going?" Tenten nodded her head as a sign of thanks as she grabbed her green tea ice cream from his outstretched hand, handing him a five in return.

"How can I miss seeing my two favorite ninjas everyday for a month in their bathing suits?" Naruto joked.

Uzumaki Naruto wasn't from Takatori. He, actually, attended the adversary school, Shiniko Highschool. Sakura and Naruto met back in junior high when the two were partnered up to play against an opposing couple in tennis for gym class, and they were friends since. Sakura introduced Naruto and Tenten to each other a couple years back, near the end of their freshmen year. The two immediately befriended each other, which was surprising at first. Naruto's outgoing, carefree, and bubbly character broke through her small barrier as quickly as she put it up when she heard he was a serpent. Not only was his personality fun, but the fact that he was absolutely adorable helped too. Naruto had short, spikey, golden hair that stuck up in all directions. He had big, blue, eyes, and he had a permanent grin plastered on his face at all times. He might come off as immature at first, but it's all an act. He loves making people laugh and smile, which he does a lot. It was as if his grin was contagious.

The three chatted for a while before Naruto's break ended. Waving goodbye, Sakura and Tenten walked slowly towards the escalators- waffle cones still in hand. By the time they reached Yutsuko's Formal Wear- or just what most called just Yutsuko's- they had finished their frozen treats.

"Hello, welcome to Yutsuko's. Just to let you know, there is a fourty percent off sale for all summer dresses. Last season's spring formal wear is now on clearance. If you need any help, please don't hesitate to ask!" The cheery voice came from a tall bleach-blonde girl. She had bright cerulean eyes and super-model-like features.

The two girls smiled and nodded at her before continuing into the store to begin their search for the perfect dresses.

After about an hour, Sakura and Tenten slumped down against the wall, sighing dejectedly. All dresses either totally clashed with her hair, was too skimpy, or wasn't her size.

"Miss," a voice called out, "If you are looking for a formal evening gown, I have one perfect for you in the back room."

Sakura immediately brightened up. "That would be a lot of help, thanks." She smiled, silently cheering in her head.

The blonde haired girl from earlier motioned for them to follow her. The three girls walked into the back room where tons of clothing racks and boxes were kept. She then held up her hand, signaling for them to stop. "Wait here please, this will only take a minute." She walked past a pair of old curtains and sounds of boxes being moved were heard.

Sakura noticed the weird look that spread over her best friend's face. "What's up?"

Tenten squinted hard at the curtains, as if trying to see through it and then shrugged. "She looks kind of familiar. I'm not sure, but I think I met her before."

The pink haired girl was about to respond, but her eyes caught sight of the beautiful dress behind Tenten, distracting her.

"Here you go, miss."

Sakura openly gaped as she slowly brushed her fingers on the silky baby-blue material. It was as if the gown came straight out of an urban Cinderlla story.

"It's beautiful.."

Periwinkle eyes sparkled and a grin plastered itself on the girl's face. "Go ahead and try it on. This dress is one of a kind- hand woven by Ms. Yutsuko herself. I would know, I'm her granddaughter," Her smile was proud.

"Thanks...?"

"Ino. Yamanaka Ino."

"Thanks a bunch, I'll go try it on now." and with that, Sakura made a beeline to the changing rooms, but not before thanking Ino once more.

Tenten's eyes were wide open. So that's why she looked so familiar. _She's Ino Yamanaka! Shiniko's star volleyball player. I'm lucky she didn't recognize me. People say she hates us Ninjas as much as vegetarians hate eating meat. It's a dumb comparison, but it works. _The mentioned girl didn't seem so bad though. Maybe they could become friends?The brunette thought it over once again before debating on whether or not she should tell Sakura. Knowing her, she would immediately question the girl about it. Her mental battle was cut short as Sakura came out of the stall. She quickly glanced to her right, making eye contact with a tall figure who was looking through the glass display cases outside of the store. With a quick nod, she turned her focus back to the pink-haired girl.

"Hey! Do you have these in size-" A voice was heard. Tenten grinned. Perfect timing. Footsteps stopped short as two boys caught sight of the green-eyed girl in a dress.

One of the boys let out a low whistle. "Lookin' good little sis!" Seiichi hollered, holding up a thumbs up sign.

Sakura smiled and did a small twirl before looking expectantly at the boy beside her twin.

Kiba couldn't stop the slight pink hue that lightened up his face, though it went unnoticed by everyone due to the red-triangular tattoos that were permanently marked on his cheeks. Sure, he was use to seeing girls like that all the time, throwing themselves all over him, but there was just something about the way the simple gown blended with her hair and eyes, giving her face a softer look that made Kiba feel slightly attracted to her.. Of course this was just a phase, you're not suppose to be attracted to your best-friend's sister, much less twin. It was an un-official law for guys. Sort of like the "can't date best-friend's ex-girlfriend" rule- except that law was always broken. It'd be too weird, anyways.

Seiichi inwardly grinned when he saw the expression on his friend's face. Whatever the boy said next could either make the whole set-up easier, or make it a helluva lot harder. "Don't ruin it, Kiba." He whispered.

Tenten looked in anxiously. "Say she looks beautiful, dammit!" She said softly, it didn't go unheard by Seiichi. She stuck her tongue out back at him when she heard him chuckle.

Sakura raised an eyebrow at the delay. She was ready for an insult, she had prepared a comeback and a back-up during the two minutes of stalling Kiba had done.

"It looks... Okay."

Sakura rolled her eyes and then turned, doing a questioning gesture to Tenten.

Tenten cursed in her head but smiled on the outside, also giving a thumbs up. "You look great."

"I guess I'm getting this one, then."

"You might wanna get a second one, just in case you're too fat to fit it in a month."

Sakura growled at the brunette who was grinning and stuck her tongue out, blowing raspberry. She huffed and marched back into the stall.

"Ah. Well, I guess I'll just buy this." Seiichi said, holding up the plain black tuxedo hanging on his arm that had been long forgotten for the past ten minutes.

Kiba looked down at the tuxedo that was dangling from a hanger on his right hand. "Do you have these in a size bigger?" He asked Ino, who was organizing the clothes people had tried on earlier that day.

Quickly checking the price tag, Sakura walked over to the registered and placed her dress on the counter. Opening her purse, she searched for her wallet. "Seiichi.."

The said boy sighed and handed her a credit card, dropping his tuxedo on top of the dress.

Sakura grinned. "Thanks."

"Thank you! Come again sometime!" Ino waved happily. "Have fun at your party!"

The group waved back and left the store.

The blonde chuckled, looking at the copy of the receipt. "I'm _so_ getting a raise."

"You don't need shoes, right?" Tenten questioned, swinging her bag of swim-wear back and forth.

"Nah. I can just borrow mom's." Sakura replied, copying her best-friend's actions. She then sighed heavily. "What now?" She adverted her eyes to her brother who was in la-la land. She then slowly shifted her gaze over to the brunette girl, who's facial expressions kept changing from excited, confused, worried, panicky, and everything in-between. Sakura rolled her eyes before landing on the last person, green met dark brown and her stare slowly morphed into a glare. The weird thing was, he didn't glare back or teased her instead, he just shook his head, as if trying to forget something and turned away. Sakura just shrugged at the thought and pushed it to the back of her head. He could just be sick or something. Sakura finally decided to break the awkward silence. "Want to go over to my house?"

"Uh, yeah, sure." Tenten replied absentmindedly.

The group parted ways as Sakura and Tenten headed to the easy exit and Seiichi and Kiba headed to the south.

"Tenten..." Sakura started. "Are you okay? You've been going weird on me since we got to Yutsuko's." The two had just reached Sakura's door and Tenten hadn't spoken since they were in the mall. Sakura gazed worriedly at her friend. Tenten wasn't the kind of person to block everything out. Maybe she was having a family problem. No matter what it was, Sakura was going to be there for her in a heartbeat if needed.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just thinking about stuff." She replied after a moment. "Nothing important."

Sakura didn't bother to try to pursue further on in the topic. Sakura trusted Tenten and knew she wouldn't keep something big from her. Hell, if Tenten said she saw a flying cow with a fairy wand, she'd believe her- even though it might take a while to process.

The two made their way up to the game-room and plopped onto the 'c' shaped forest green leather couch that was facing a big screen television.

"Wanna watch a movie?" Sakura asked, picking a few DVD's off the floor. "Sleepover, Maid in Manhattan, Lizzie McGuire the Movie..?" Her nose wrinkled in disgust.

"Maid in Manhattan." They said in unison.

Tenten laughed, "Who buys these movies?"

She shrugged, crawling over to the DVD player. "I guess it's one of Emiko's nieces, they come over once every week to visit. I never saw one of them though. And Emiko never tells us about them."

Tenten made an 'o' shape with her mouth and turned to face the TV.

"This movie isn't that bad." Tenten commented, a few minutes into the movie. They already knew what was coming.. It was like a revised Cinderella story- the girls' favorite Disney movie. Sakura nodded in agreement.

Seiichi and Kiba walked in half an hour into the movie.

The older twin sighed loudly as soon as he glanced at the screen. "Chick-flick... I'll go get the ice cream." He said to the girls. They were lying down on their sides, heads only a foot away from each other in the middle of the couch, leaving only the two ends open. The two had pillows that they were hugging and resting their heads on. A pile of thin blankets and cushions were stacked on the carpet in-between them. His eyes softened when he heard his sister, "Thanks, you're the best, Seiich."

Kiba's eyes skimmed the room for something more interesting than the click flick that was currently playing. He frowned when he found nothing and laid down near the edge of the couch, picking up a falling cushion and putting it behind his head for support. He yawned and glared at the girl on the screen who was cleaning a room, while talking to another girl.

Before he could dose off, Seiichi re-entered the room with two bowls of ice cream and Emiko in tow holding a tray of blueberry muffins.

"We brought food!" Seiichi said in a sing-song voice. He handed each of the girls a bowl. "We only had Rocky Road, someone forgot to go grocery shopping last week." He said, looking pointedly as Sakura.

Emiko walked over after re-arranging the muffins. "The outer two on both sides of each tray have less sugar, and is less fattening." She placed the tray in-between the two ice-cream eaters. She chuckled at the expressions on their faces. "Don't worry girls, you aren't fat. I'm just trying something new. Tell me how it is later, alright?" She glanced at the screen. "Oh, my niece brought this over a few days ago. Do you kids mind leaving it in the kitchen when you're done? I need to return in to them." Emiko smiled, and with a wave, she left the room.

As soon as she was gone, the black-haired boy grabbed a muffin and started eating, taking a seat next to Tenten. "Yo, Keebs!" Seiichi hollered. "Why don't you come get a muffin? There's too much for just us three." He winked at the girl besides him and placed a tray on his lap.

"Keebs?" He muttered. He rolled off the couch and childishly crawled to the empty space in-between Seiichi and Sakura. He sat crossed-legged and gave the boy beside him the evil eye. "Don't call me that. It makes me sound like an animal species... Saych!"

"Aww, you're giving each other pet names!" Sakura cooed, eating her ice cream.

"If you were jealous, you could've just told me!" Kiba retorted mockingly. "Don't worry, I have one for you, Sock."

Sakura only stuck her tongue out in reply, placing the now-empty bowl on the end table behind the couch.

"Now, now, kiddies, we can't leave dear Tenten out. You can be..." Seiichi trailed off.

Everyone got into a thinking pose. Seiichi's left pointer finger was touching his cheek and his head was tilted to the side. Kiba's thumb and index finger formed a check mark on his right hand, which he placed under his chin. Sakura's head was resting on the palm of her left hand while her right index finger was poking her head. All three were looking up with their eyebrows furrowed together in a 'V' shape.

Tenten sweat-dropped at their expressions. "Is my name that hard?"

"Ten squared!"

"T-dog!"

"Tennizzle!"

The brunette looked horrified. There was a long silence between the four.

"T-dog." They all said in unison.

"Oh my gosh!" Seiichi gasped dramatically, putting the palms of his hands to his cheek. "Keebs and Sock agreed with each other! They were meant to be!"

The mentioned couple groaned.

"I told you man, it's never gonna happen." Kiba growled.

"You aren't seriously gonna call me Sock, are you?" Sakura whined.

"But I think it's an adorable name, little sis!" Seiichi reached over and patted her head, smiling.

Sakura growled. "It was only a four minute difference!" She crossed her arms stubbornly.

"Four minutes is a huge difference."- and that's when the "Nuh-uh's" and "Uh-huh's" started. The on-going verbal battle lasted a whole three minutes, which is pretty long for people who were repeating themselves and not even using real words.

"Is anyone up for a game of spoons?"

**.o.o.o.**

Sakura woke up from the soft melodic tune coming from beneath her pillow. She groaned and pulled out her cellular phone, pressing 'disable' and checking the time. 8:30.

She had packed her stuff for the cruise the night before, and was only missing her everyday stuff, such as her comb, toothbrush, and other grooming items.

The seniors were instructed to meet at the school at approximately 9:30 AM. From there, they would take a bus to the pier and board the ship at 10:15. Two weeks into the cruise, they were going to stay some days as an island. (Principal Tsunade said the island they were staying on would be a surprise.) They would then head back to the Konoha district where there would be a 'surprise, surprise" as the principal herself put it.

She grudgingly hauled herself to the bathroom. Rubbing her eyes to loosen the stiff muscles, she blinked them open.

As soon as she saw things clearly she stripped off her clothes and stepped into the shower. Sakura relaxed a bit before her mind fled to somewhere else.

Kiba had been acting a bit strange since the Friday at the mall a couple weeks before. He didn't glare or argue with her as much as he used to. He still did, of course, but his responses weakened. Come to think about it, his insults had dramatically lessened from "peed-in-her-pants-in-front-of-everyone-on-her-thirteenth-birthday" to "you suck". It's not that Sakura minded, (It was easier for her to win that way) it was just strange. He even held the door open for her when she was carrying grocery bags once. It was only once though. He probably didn't know he was doing it- instinct-like. Maybe he was just having family problems. It seemed to be the excuse for everything these days. Sakura heard from Seiichi before that Kiba's father died when he was young, some time before his first day at Pre-K- she didn't remember exactly when, but that was when the twins met him. He was a lonely and quiet boy who was sitting by himself in the corner of the room, on an orange plastic chair. Seiichi had offered to play cars with him, and the two became fast friends. Sakura hadn't been with him, she was playing house with some blonde-girl and her friends, but she remembered Seiichi talking about it on the way home with Emiko.

Tenten had returned to her normal self after the little movie night at her house. Everything about the Yamanaka girl was spilled the day after It wasn't as bad as Sakura expected it to be, (She was expecting something along the lines of "she-is-actually-a-man-in-disguise-and-was-infamous-on-Japan's-most-wanted-for-rape-and-identity-theft.") She was a tad bit worried that when Ino saw her, (Pink hair _is_ pretty hard to miss) that she might attack her and get her posse to sic them (As Seiichi would say). She was sure she wasn't the only pink-haired girl going- there had to be at least one person who wanted to be unique and dyed their hair.

A few minutes later, Sakura exited her bathroom with only a towel wrapped around her body and a towel holding her hair together in a makeshift turban. Her mind wandered back to the earlier thoughts and she drifted off once again.

**.o.o.o.**

Kiba grumbled, carrying a plastic container almost his size filled with clothes. Earlier that day, Emiko asked Kiba to go to each room and collect the bed sheets, pillow cases, blankets, and any laundry needed to be done in every room. He said he didn't finish packing yet and didn't have the time. He almost got away with it too- or so he thought. Right before he turned away, Emiko pulled the "defenseless weak grandma" act and went on and on about her ready-to-break bones. Of course, he couldn't refuse her then.

He finished packing a few days ago, and stayed over the night before. It's not that he didn't love his home, but his dad was gone, his mom was always at work, making just enough money to live an 'okay' life and pay for his sister's college tuition and dorm rental. The house was just too quiet, so he usually spent the night at the Haruno household.

Kiba was done with all the other rooms, and Sakura's room was his last stop. He would've stopped by earlier, but he knew she wouldn't be awake, so he started on the other end of the house. A little part of him was hoping someone had given her a heads-up and that she left her stuff outside her door, but that was highly unlikely.

He blindly reacher over with one hand and opened the door, pushing it open roughly.

"Ahhhh!" A girly, high pitched, voice echoed through the whole house.

Kiba peeked his head over the container. Eyes widening in surprise from the sight, he dropped the box. He cursed loudly as he felt his left sock-covered foot get smashed. Dropping to the floor in a fetal position, a stream of curses and grunts escaped from his mouth.

Sakura, who accidently dropped her towel in surprise, quickly grabbed the nearest thing and covered herself. She turned around and crossed her arms, glaring at the boy rolling around on her beige carpeted floor. "If you don't need anything, get out! Now!" She yelled, pointing at the door behind him.

The fowl language stopped and Kiba coughed. "Uh.."

"Out!" Sakura roared.

"Bed sheets, pillowcases, blankets, laundry, in the container." Kiba managed to get out weakly. "I'll pick it up later-"

"Okay. Now out!"

Kiba scrambled out of the room, shutting the door behind him.

Sakura shook her head sighing as he came back in a split second later to pick up his sock that he had taken off while nursing his foot.

Downstairs in the kitchen, Emiko and Seiichi grinned and high-fived each other.

"Nicely done, Emiko." Seiichi complimented. "I'm on step closer to winning $50 dollars from that bet. I do wish I bet a little more though.."

Emiko shook her head. "Oh, stop being so modest, that little stunt you pulled at the mall a couple weeks ago was fantastic. I heard all about it from Tenten." She paused, pouring apple cider into two empty wine glasses. "I don't know how you two pulled it off. Cheers!" The two glasses pinged and the two congratulated themselves on a job well-done.

**.o.o.o.**

Tenten smiled. She finished putting her hair into a couple of buns. Brushing the stray hair that had fallen into her face aside, she glanced at the time. 9:01 AM. By now, Emiko and Seiichi should've lured Kiba into Sakura's room right after she took a shower.

It amazed her that their plans so far had been perfectly timed and well thought-out, considering that Sakura or Kiba were always there when her and Seiichi were in the same room, and Tenten could only find Emiko at Sakura's house.

The three had to resort to "i-need-to-go-to-the-bathroom" excuses, talking through Emiko, instant messaging, and e-mails.

The next set-up was going to be today. It wasn't as well-planned as the previous two, and if anything went wrong, they were going to wing it.

She stuffed the brush into her already full back and walked over to her bed, picking the house phone off the end table. Her family wasn't so poor that she couldn't afford a cell phone, the brunette just didn't want her parents to waste money on something she would barely use. The only person she really talked to on the phone was Sakura anyways.

She dialed Sakura's number and waited patiently as she heard the ringing. Sighing at the sound of the operator's voice, she hung up and dialed the Haruno's home phone number.

Seiichi quickly rinsed his glass and placed it at the bottom of the sink. Hearing the shrill ringing noise, he raised an eyebrow. No one usually called the house phone since they all had cellular ones. Shrugging, he dried his hands on a bright green and yellow striped towel that hung from the oven handle and picked up the wired phone that hung by the light switch. "Hello?"

He heard a familiar voice on the other end. "Oh. Hey Tenten. Mission was a success." He grinned. They chatted for a few minutes before Tenten asked for Sakura. "Okay, hold on for a sec." Seiichi covered the phone with his hand and yelled. "Sakura!"

"Sakura!"

"What?" Sakura responded. She had just finished packing and was sitting on her empty bed. All her belonging were either in her bag or in the plastic container Kiba had brought up, which she left just outside of her door. "Kiba." Sakura growled, clenching her fist.

"Phone!"

"Okay!" She yelled back. She didn't understand why they always yelled, they had a communication system set up all around the house, but she wasn't complaining. "Hmm, must be Tenten." She dragged her two bags of luggage to the hallways and closed the door to her room, giving the door a soft pat. She walked down the staircase, hauling her suitcase and duffel-bag behind her. Sakura dropped them at the bottom of the stairs and ran over to the kitchen, grabbing the phone from Seiichi's hands.

"Hey, Tenten!" She greeted. "Are you coming over now?" They had agreed to go together, so no one would be stuck waiting alone at school. With a few quick 'yeah's and 'no's, she slammed the phone back onto the receiver.

"How long?" Seiichi asked. He was sitting on a high chair, arms folded on the kitchen island.

"Ten minutes. Her mom's dropping her off." Sakura responded

"Good. We're leaving in fifteen."

Just then, Kiba decide to make his entrance, a duffel bag draped over his right shoulder and a backpack hanging from his other one. He coughed awkwardly. "Good-morning?"

Sakura growled. "You're going on the cruise? I thought you'd rather do seat work then bond with Shiniko scum." She said haughtily, still bitter about earlier and quoting his speech from before. Way before.

"I would, but I'm going anyways." Kiba replied snidely. He placed a hand on Seiichi's shoulder. "Besides, I can't leave my best bro alone with a witch like you. He would die from annoyance." And thus started a seven minute quarrel, that was luckily interrupted by the ring of the doorbell.

The three picked up their bags and walked over to the main door. Emiko and Tenten were casually talking when they arrived.

"Ready to go?" Tenten asked. She picked her bags back up from the floor and grinned.

Emiko smiled. "You kids have fun now. Don't do anything you shouldn't. Boys, put the toilet seat down when you're done doing business. Remember to floss everyday. Don't-"

Seiichi and Sakura put an arm around their nanny. "We'll miss you too grandma."

Kiba and Tenten nodded. "We'll call every other day and fill you in." Tenten added.

Each of them said their good-bye's to the woman and gave her a hug. A bright yellow taxi car stopped right in front of the drive-way a minute later. The teens filed into the car after loading their stuff into the trunk.

Inside of the car, Kiba was sat in the front seat while the three squished into the back, Sakura in the middle.

Kiba groaned. "I can't believe I'm going to socialize with those dip-wads." His head was smashed up against the window with his eyes shut.

"Well someone's not a happy camper!" Seiichi said, as if he was talking to a five year-old. His left elbow was on the arm-rest on the car door and his head was resting on his palm. "It won't be that bad. If you still hate them by the time we get to the island-"

"Which I will." He interrupted.

"-then you can challenge them to a game of tackle football." Seiichi finished, grinning.

Sakura scoffed. "Violent _and _fun. Nice going bro." She said sarcastically. "It's only going to lead to... I don't know- cat fights, serious injuries, people in a coma, a war.."

Tenten shook her head. "It might not turn out that bad. If people get hurt, there will be someone to take care of them." She winked at the black-haired boy, an obvious plan in her mind.

Sakura saw the little exchange between the two people beside her. Is there something going on between them? She raised an eyebrow. What if they're secretly dating? What if they were doing things behind her back? She shook the thoughts out of her head.

The car came to a sudden stop in front of Takatori Highschool.

"Ow. That hurt." Kiba whined, feeling for a bump on his head from collision with the window. He got out of the car and walked over to the back of the car. Opening the trunk, he picked up three duffel bags and a backpack. "You can get the rest, Saych."

Seiichi got out of the car, leaving the door open for the girls. He grabbed two suitcases, a duffel bag, and three backpacks. "Alright. Let's go." He followed Kiba through the doors.

The two girls looked into the empty trunk and shrugged. Tenten closed the trunk while Sakura went to pay the driver.

"Here we go." Sakura said excitedly. The two walked through the school into the back yard, where students were wearily boarding school buses.

"Don't look too excited, we don't want to start an argument." Tenten whispered as boarded bus A11. She quickly scanned the bus for any friends. "Wow. That's a lot of un-happy faces."

"Oh, look! There's Shikamaru and Chouji!" Sakura ushered Tenten in the vacant seats next to the said boys. "Hey Shikamaru, hey Chouji."

Tenten mimicked the greeting with an added wave.

"Sakura, Tenten." Nara Shikamaru nodded in reply. He had dark-brown hair, almost black, in a high pony-tail where his hair would stick up oddly, defying all gravitational laws. He had small, serious looking dark eyes to match his hair. Two golden rings hung from his ears. To anyone that didn't know him, they would've suspected him to be a delinquent, or someone that did drugs, but it's not that much of a surprise. He had almost all the bullying physiques, minus the buff. The Nara boy was the exact opposite of a bully. He finished the year at the top of the class, being dubbed the most intelligent of his age. He was an extremely lazy character, who only did assignments if they did a major damage on his grade. He was usually found somewhere in the grass, lying down and watching the clouds roll by. Shikamaru was a very patient person, despite his common use of 'how troublesome' and whining. People came to him for advice, and usually got it if they had enough patience to wait until he stopped watching the sky. He was popular at school, but wasn't the kind to hang out in the groups of jocks and such. He could always keep a secret, no matter how big it was. If someone needed to rant out all their problems, they went to him. He wasn't in any clubs or sports, but people said he was really good at soccer back in junior high.

"Tenten! Sakura! Hi." Chouji greeted. His sepia-colored hair was covered by a dark-red cap. His small, beady eyes were usually squinting or in slits. He was chubby and bulky. Slightly over-weight, but not obese. He, being an Akimichi, was usually found eating chips. He was a member of the Takatori football team as a forward, it was no surprise that he made it on. He was an 'okay' runner but had massive strength. He doesn't like being called fat, and takes it as a very offensive insult. With his short temper and monstrous strength, people usually tried not to anger him. Despite his usual attitude, he has a very caring personality. He was always there when his friends needed someone to back them up or if someone was messing with them.

"Do you know where they're keeping the luggage?" Tenten asked. She had to lean forward to be able to see the two boys.

"Moving van." Shikamaru replied. He yawned loudly and leaned his head against the window, closing his eyes.

"Heh." Sakura snorted. "Not surprised." She saw girls walking through the hall with about seven suitcases stuffed full. It was a surprise how they managed to lift them.

A good, ten minutes later, the four school buses and three moving vans were packed with students and luggage and on their way to the private docking area. The bus ride there was more or less, uneventful. It was surprisingly quiet during the short, fifteen minute ride.

"All students must pick up their luggage and assemble in front of the boat across from Shiniko highschool students- our friendly rivals. Try to get in a single-file line. Please." The principal's voice echoed from the speakers of the bus. "Exit the bus in an orderly fashion. Don't embarrass yourselves."

"Well someone doesn't sound like a happy camper." Tenten said as they got off the bus.

Sakura shrugged. "I don't blame her- she must've gotten a bunch of complaints from students today."

"I heard there were a lot of people in line to do seat work and she got mad." Chouji piped up.

Shikamaru groaned. "I was going to do seat-work but I didn't want to work my butt off when I could relax on a cruise ship, but I didn't want to be in the presence of all the arguments that are going to be going on." He sighed. "Troublesome."

"We gotta look for Seiichi and Kiba." Tenten said, waving to the two. "See you guys later!"

"Bye!" Sakura yelled as she was dragged away by Tenten.

The moving trucks were being unloaded by students and luggage was dumped recklessly in a pile. Tenten and Sakura gaped at the sight.

"My new glow-in-the-dark toothbrush!" Sakura cried out. She ran as fast as her legs would let her to the mass of suitcases and bags, Tenten right behind her.

She almost choked when a hand grabbed the hood of her thin jacket. She stopped suddenly, arms flailing wildly, which caused Tenten run straight into her outstretched arm and fall back onto the wooden pier.

The brunette groaned in pain, eyes shut closed, still lying flat on the ground.

"What the hell, man?" Sakura growled. She managed to turn around and see the person who was still holding onto her hood. It was bright and sunny, so it was hard to see, but Sakura could recognize that grin anywhere. Her eyes quickly squinted into a glare. "You!"

"Me?"

"You!"

"Me."

"Yeah, you!"

"What?"

"I could've choked to death! Damn you, Inuzuka!" She screamed. She rolled up her right sleeve and packed an uppercut. He let go of her and moved aside to dodge, but the punch just barely missed.

"Woah there, missy." Kiba raised his eyebrows. "Calm down. We were just going to tell you girls that we have your stuff." He said, his hand motioning to Seiichi- who was currently helping Tenten up- and a pile of bags behind him.

"Hehe. Sorry, little sis." Seiichi grinned.

"Wood is really painful to fall on." Tenten stated. She rubbed her bruised back and carefully inspected herself for injuries. "I think I got a splinter." She winced, looking at her arm. "Let's get in line before it gets too long." She suggested, busying herself with pulling out the small piece of wood that stuck itself in her arm. She slung a couple of back packs over her shoulder and started walking.

Sakura grabbed a couple of bags and caught up with her friend, leaving the guys to carry the rest. Sakura sighed. She observed the scene in front of her.

The Shiniko students were already in line, glaring daggers at the mass of students looking for their luggage. The couple dozen of Takatori students that were already in line were glaring right back at them with the same intensity.

Sakura and Tenten slowed down their pace so the boys could catch up.

"They look vicious." Tenten whispered, eyeing the adolescents.

Kiba snorted. "As vicious as my great grandma's thousand year-old cat." He replied sarcastically. "They got nothing on us. Scum."

Seiichi pretended to act oblivious. "Your great granny has a cat? I thought your family had a strict dogs-only rule."

"Hah! So that's why you always smell like crap." Sakura grinned impishly. They joined the line of students representing their school.

"So you're saying you always smell me?" Kiba countered, a grin also spreading over his face, but it was mocking her.

"No! I'm saying you smell so bad that your body odor stinks up the room whenever you're in it!"

Seiichi and Tenten burst out in laughter. "That was weak, sis." Seiichi chuckled. Tenten nodded in agreement.

Kiba's grin morphed into a smirk. "Kiba, 434, Sakura, 429." Of course, this was extremely inaccurate.

The group was joined by a few friends. They chatted for a few minutes before there was an announcement.

Principal Tsunade stepped onto a platform at the top of a humongous ship, a bright red megaphone in her hand. Beside her was a pale man with long, dark, hair. He had gold cat-like eyes and a scary grin on his face. Next to the scary man was a tall, bulky man with shocking, frizzy, wild, white hair tied in a low ponytail.

"Quiet down, idiotic, adolescent teenagers!" Tsunade yelled, eyes sharp. The white-haired man chuckled. As soon as the chatting dropped down to whispers, she continued talking. "I am Principal Tsunade of Takatori Highschool-" Here, she received some boo's and cheers. "This is Principal Orochimaru, but he prefers to be called Master Orochimaru..." She said with a weird expression on her face, motioning to the man next to her. "And this is Jiraiya." She said plainly, pointing to the last person, who started complaining.

"I'm sure you are all aware of why we arranged this trip, so I won't go over that. If you don't board the ship in the next twenty minutes, we're leaving you." She paused, seeing a hand go up. The blonde didn't even need to ask. "Yes, you will have to do seat work if you don't make it on."

"The reason why you're in lines is to make entering the ship easier. You are going to go on the ship two by two. One Shiniko and one Takatori. And you will shake the hand of the person you are boarding with- the person across from you. You won't like the consequences." She threatened. "Start. Now. Room numbers and maps will be given once you get on the ship."

"This is crazy. No way in hell am I shaking hands with one of those freaks." Kiba said, outraged.

"Ah. Well, deal with it." Sakura responded. She quickly counted off the students with her finger. She focused her green eyes to a boy across from her. "My boarding partner looks scary. Not ugly scary- far from it, but I think he's glaring at me." She whispered to Tenten. The line was moving quick, and there was only about ten people left in front of her.

"Mine looks just as scary." Tenten spoke quietly, referring to her boarding partner.

Sakura looked at the boy across from Tenten and shuddered. He wasn't glaring at one person, but the whole line of people.. Or it looked like he was glaring. It was hard to tell with his strange eyes. That just made him twice as scary, but not as scary as her partner.

Next to the strange-eyed boy was a pretty petite girl with equally weird eyes, Seiichi's partner, and next to her was another boy. He was a very mysterious looking one, he looked threatening, but had a calm aura around him- Kiba's partner.

The person in front of her moved. She was next. Her pink haired swished as she looked at her friends once more and smiled wearily. "Here we go."

**A/N: June 2006 **


	4. Chapter Four

**Like a Walk in the Park **

**By xx Hikari E**

**Summary - AU The students of Shiniko High School and Takatori Academy are arch rivals. A over summer cruise is set out to attempt to change that. Sakura x Kiba.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any of the characters.**

**A/N: Hello! Only one person got the partners right, Darksoul LJ! It was Gaara, Neji, Hinata, and Shino, in that order. A lot of you came very close though. Gaara's desert blossom was the only one who got Sakura's partner right. Kiari12321, xXxAllMySinsxXx, and Mistress DragonFlame only got one wrong. I was hoping I'd trick everyone.. Ah well. This chapter isn't as long as the last one. Hinata, Neji, and Shino are introduced.**

**Chapter Four**

Sakura walked slowly down the aisle, bags in hand. Glancing to her left, she saw that her partner was almost at the boarding bridge and sped up her pace. She was downright nervous. She, the girl who had been excited about meeting students from the enemy school was scared to shake the hand of one. Stopping in front of the metallic ramp she placed her bags on the floor. She turned and swallowed. She could feel hundreds of eyes being focused solely on the two. She looked up. Green eyes clashed with a lighter shade of her own. It was obvious from his facial expression that he wasn't going to make the first move. "Ha- Haruno Sakura. Nice to meet you." She greeted, extending out her hand.

His head of short, cropped, hair made a swift nod.

Her hand was still out. She was panicking inside. Until what seemed like forever, he finally grabbed it, giving it a shake.

"Sabakuno Gaara."

Before she could say anything else, he released her hand and walked up the long ramp silently.

Sakura watched the retreating form. Sighing, she picked up her bags and mimicked the red-head's steps, stopping just at the top of the ramp. She looked down, seeing her best friend at the bottom with the guy with weird eyes. The couple shook hands after a quick exchange and Tenten walked up the ramp.

"So?" Tenten asked as soon as she got to the top. "Who is he?"

"Sabakuno Gaara." She replied, watching her brother smile and shake hands with his boarding partner, making small talk.

"Sabakuno Gaara..." Tenten repeated, trailing off. Realization hit her. "Hey! Isn't that Temari's last name? I heard she had two younger brothers attending another school."

Sakura shook her head. "Can't be. They're too different." Seiichi had finished conversating and was now on his way up the ramp. "Uh oh." Sakura said. "Kiba's going to cause a scene." She groaned, hitting her head against the railing they were leaning on.

"Well someone was being friendly with their boarding buddy." Tenten smirked, nudging Seiichi's side as soon as he was in reach.

"Hey," He protested, putting his hands up. "She was very shy and I was just trying to make her feel more welcome. I don't flirt." Seiichi said seriously. "Not to change the subject, but I'm surprised Kiba isn't yelling at Principal Tsunade yet. He actually doesn't look too disappointed."

The two girls turned their attention to the two boys who were now shaking hands.

"He looks familiar." Sakura pondered.

Seiichi nodded. "Very."

Tenten sighed. The three- Sakura, Seiichi, Kiba- and always had flashback moments, Chouji, Shikamaru, and Naruto were included every once in a while. She wished she had gone to Grade-school with them, they had so many memories together. Even though she was close to all of them, she'd always felt left out when they reminisced together. They had the strangest childhood, with the strangest people. She was sure they couldn't remember much, after all, it was a very long time ago.

Even though Sakura and Kiba claimed they had been rivals since they met, Tenten knew it wasn't true. Emiko told her they were pretty good friend's before they moved onto first grade, where boys and girls had cooties, and kids developed their first crush. Kiba obviously had a crush on the young Sakura, from the way the nanny described it, and he was trying to get her to notice her. Of course, that led to picking on her and teasing her.

She had heard that Sakura's ex-best-friend and Sakura had the same crush, which caused a dramatic break-up between the two and turned them into rivals. She was curious to find out all about it, since Sakura had forgotten most of it.

"Ah!" Sakura cried out. "Aburame Shino!"

Seiichi nodded. "Looks just like him," He said, inspecting the boy's wild looking poof-ball of black hair. "And he and Kiba were close friends.."

"Ahah!" Tenten whispered to herself. She turned around so her back was facing the twins and pulled out a small, pocket-sized notebook. Inside were chibi drawings of Sakura, Seiichi, Kiba, Chouji, Shikamaru, and Naruto, linked together with labels on them, like 'friends', 'rivals', 'crush', and so on. She fished a pencil out of pocket and immediately started sketching a chibi Shino.

Soon, the three were joined by Kiba and Shino.

"You guys remember Shino?" Kiba grinned, giving the said person a friendly slap on the back.

Shino nodded and greeted them. "Hello Sakura, Seiichi."

"Of course we remember you!" Sakura exclaimed, smiling. "Who could forget the boys who always played pranks on Mr. Umino?" She giggled, remembering the time they put paint on Mr. Umino's chair. The poor teacher ended up with oversized, badly drawn eyeballs- one on each butt-cheek.

"Man, I didn't even know you went to that school." Seiichi said. He and the Aburame exchanged a quick manly handshake and the three boys started chatting, catching up with each other.

Sakura sweat dropped and glanced over at Tenten. The girl was scribbling about in her own little world. She took a quick peek at the drawing and laughed. "Chibi Shino has big hair."

Tenten finished up last minute clothing details and shoved the notebook and pencil back in her pocket. "Let's go get our rooms." She suggested. She picked up her stuff and walked over to the double doors where the academy's secretary stood with a clipboard in hand and a piglet being cradled with the other. The woman had dark black hair hanging a few inches above her shouldered, layered, and split down the middle.

Sakura grabbed her stuff and followed Tenten to the doors. "Hello, Secretary Shizune!" She chirped happily.

"Ah, Tenten, Sakura. Good afternoon!" Shizune gave a small smile. "Here," She said, handing each of the girls a small card key and a folded brochure. "Don't lose them, we don't keep many extras. Room 416- Highest floor, in the back side of the boat. You'll be sharing with two Shiniko students as well."

"Thanks!" The two girls said in unison, eager to check out where they would be sleeping for a month and explore the ship.

"Oh, and girls, remember to come to the dance this evening with the right accessories." She reminded them.

A parting cry of "We will!" slipped through the crack of the closing door, just as it shut.

"Well, I don't know about you, but I'm not going to walk up four floors with these." Sakura snorted, motioning towards her luggage. "Let's take the elevator." She suggested. She opened up the brochure in her hand and studied the map.

They walked to the end of the hall before making a quick right into a medium-sized room. Three stainless steel elevators were adjacent, the shiny material reflected the cinnamon colored wallpaper.

The brunette pressed the triangular button and waited patiently, observing her surroundings as she did. Not more than a minute later, there was a soft _ting_ noise, and the doors slid open and the two entered.

The elevator had burgundy-colored walls decorated with pictures and a bulletin board showing breakfast, lunch, and dinner schedules- among many other things.

"This place is pretty high-class." Sakura said smugly. "Look!" She pointed a finger to a piece of paper pinned onto the bulletin board. "Pool hours open from 8 AM to 10 PM. Bars and grills open from 10 AM to 12 PM."

"It's too good- the teacher's must be up to something." Tenten pointed to a brightly colored paper that was framed on the other side. "Open spa- 24 hours." She yelped, more questioning than a statement. "What _don't_ they have here?" Just as that was said, the door pinged open and the girls walked out excitedly. "Alright. Go straight down and make the second right, then walk all the way down the hall." She instructed, walking swiftly with her friend right behind her.

As soon as they reached their destination, they immediately dropped their bags and opened the door.

Inside the room were two twin-sized wooden bunk beds against the wall, separated by a wooden desk with a table lamp on it and a plain, dark-green rolling chair tucked under it, a big window behind it, green shutters blocking the light. On the other side of the room- the side the door opened to face- a medium sized forest-green couch sitting in front of a dresser that was pushed back into the wall with a television on top of a DVD player. On both sides of the dresser were two slide-open closets, mirrors covering them. Straight across from the first door, past the couch, another door could be seen, painted a plain white, it leaded to the small bathroom that consisted of twin sinks and a towel rack with a third door leading to the toilet and bathtub/shower.

Tenten let out a low whistle. "Damn." Looking to her right, she saw her friend completely mesmerized. "I call top bunk!" She yelled, climbing atop the bed closer to the bathroom and lying flat down on top of the green and white sheets. Looking straight up to plain white wall paper, sighed.

Sakura stuck her tongue at her friend as she hauled the stuff into the room, throwing Tenten's backpack up to her. "I'm just going to assume we share this closet." She dragged her suitcase closer to the closet, she opened the door and started to unpack.

Tenten grunted in reply. "I'll unpack later tonight." She called out. Snuggling into the comforter, she turned to her side, inhaling the smell of bleach, her brown eyes landing on the bed across from her. "Wonder who our roommates are." She murmured, eyes slowly blinking until they closed completely.

For a while, the only sound in the room was the shuffling of clothes.

"Done," Sakura stated proudly. She got up and stretched, back cramped from kneeling over. "Looking over to her asleep friend she sighed. "I guess I'll just explore my self," The pink-haired girl muttered to herself. She shoved she friend's suitcase into the closest and closed the door, making finger-prints on the clean mirror. Sakura looked around the room. Seeing a pack of post-it notes on the desk and a pen with the ship name on it, she wrote on it neatly and peeled it off, sticking it lightly on her friend's forehead.

Feeling inside of her pockets, she felt nothing. Sakura squat down and took her cell phone out of her backpack, before throwing the almost empty bag onto the bed below Tenten's to claim it. Taking one last look around the room to make sure nothing was left out in the open, she walked out of the room and closed the door quietly behind her.

**.o.o.o.**

A girl with navy-blue hair that went slightly past her shoulder stood in front of room 416, fiddling with the card key. Soft pearl eyes looked back behind at her cousin, his long coffee-colored hair tied together in a long ponytail, his eyes similar to hers. In his right hand was two of her suitcases, her backpack slung over one of his shoulders. "Thanks for helping me cousin Neji." She said softly, extending out her hand to reach for her bags.

Hyuuga Neji nodded. Ignoring her outstretched arm. He motioned to the door. "Open it. And Mr. Hyuuga told me to watch over you. You are lucky he let you come here, Hinata."

The Hyuuga heiress sighed. Her own cousin couldn't even refer to her father as uncle. Dropping her hand to her side, she slid the card in the device and heard a beep. She opened the door and stepped into the room. Looking around the room, a small smile revealed itself on her face. Just how she liked it. Average- one of the things her father never let her be.

She slipped off her flip-flops and walked over to the closet, feeling the soft white carpet in between her toes. Sliding the door open, she was surprised to see it was already half full. Her eyes adverted to the bunk bed. She closed the door and climbed up the wooden ladder. She lied down and turned to her right. Eyes widening abruptly, she squealed, almost rolling off the bed. Navy hair swished as she shot back up into a sitting position, head almost connecting with the painted white ceiling.

"Hinata?" Her cousin called out.

Neji placed the suitcases next to the closed closet and looked up. His eyebrows raised as he saw the brunette from earlier resting on the bed across from Hinata. Snorting when he saw a note sticking onto her forehead with girly hand-writing across it.

"Tenten of the Takatori Academy." He said, answering her unasked question.

"Oh."

He looked to his cousin to see her climbing back down.

"I'm going to begin unpacking, cousin Neji. You may leave if you wish to." She said. Sometimes she wished she could communicate with her cousin normally, instead of the formal way they were use to. Hinata always had someone body guarding her, being the heiress to her dad's famous hotel that resided in Tokyo. Usually, it was her cousin, who was not that much older than herself. She was hoping that during this trip she'd meet people that were crazy, silly, funny, risk-taking- she wanted to be like them. Carefree. Who knows, maybe she'd meet some real friends who weren't after her money.

Hinata, personally, didn't have any problem with the opposing school. Not really a competitive type, she didn't join sports or much clubs. She was more interested in photography and drawing than anything else, but that was kept secret. If her father were to find out, she'd be banned from doing it at all.

"Mr. Hyuuga told me to watch you, and that is what I'll do." Neji said in monotone.

She was about to respond but a thumping sound interrupted, followed by a quiet 'ow'. The brunette had gotten up. Her eyes were still closed and she was rubbing her head, which had obviously just hit the ceiling. It didn't seem like she noticed them yet.

Tenten rubbed her sore head. Feeling something poke her eye, she peeled the paper off her forehead and stared at it, eyes adjusting to the light. "Exploring - Sakura." She read quietly.

"Hello." A quiet feminine voice greeted.

The noise startled her and she jumped, head hitting the ceiling once again. "Ouch." She groaned. Honey-brown eyes looked down at the two people. "Hello." She greeted back, recognizing the taller one as Hyuuga Neji and the small petite girl as the one Seiichi claimed was shy. Tenten put her hand at the back of her head, feeling strands stick out messily, she untied her hair and quickly tied it back up in a single bun, throwing her other worn out hair tie in the trash bin in the far corner of the room, just behind the opened door. She silently cheered when it went in. Climbing down the ladder, she extended her hand to the girl. "I'm Tenten."

"Hyuuga Hinata." Hinata smiled, shaking hands with the girl. "This is my cousin Neji." She motioned behind her.

"We've met." Tenten gave a nod to him. "Well I guess we're going to be rooming together for a month. My friend- the girl with pink hair, I'm sure you've seen her- is also with us. Do you know who the last person is?" She asked.

"No, I don't, sorry. I don't talk much to girls at my school." Hinata replied truthfully. The Hyuuga usually hung out with Neji and his friends.

"Oh. Well, you'll love Sakura. She's just this crazy, klutzy girl." Tenten grinned, eyes looking at the desk. "Who forgot to get her room key before she went exploring. Do you want to meet her? I'll introduce you two- uh, three." Tenten offered, almost forgetting that Neji was there.

"That would be nice." Hinata smiled, suitcases long forgot upon the floor.

"Cool! Let's go look for her." Tenten smiled back nervously. This girl was so proper and polite, probably of high-class, and she couldn't even pay for her own trip. She tried not to let the awkwardness show as she grabbed the couple of room keys and followed the Hyuuga's out the door.

**.o.o.o.**

"Twinkie filling!"

"Donut hole!"

"Cream-puff!"

"Oreo-stuffing!" Sakura retorted back. She set a steady glare at the brunette playing pool with her brother and a few friends. They were in the lobby, which was very, very big. The _click_ sound caused her to turn back to what she was doing before. "Cheater! I wasn't looking!"

Naruto grinned, putting his hand behind his head. "I won again. Five nothing." He said proudly. "And maybe if you weren't so busy calling dog-boy junk food then you would've noticed."

Sakura gave him an annoyed look. She reached down and took the air-hockey puck out of the slot. "He brung Akamaru? Haven't seen the puppy in a while." Placing the disk onto the surface of the table she waited it for the puck to wiggle, before hitting straight down into the goal.

The Inuzuka had a puppy he kept since he was young, Akamaru. It was a small brown and white mutt. Sakura heard his sister was training to be a vet, and borrowed him for visual help or something. It was the only thing she liked about the boy- his dog. Or at least, the only thing she would admit.

"Anyways, you didn't answer my question yet. Who are you rooming with?" She questioned. The two didn't have much else to talk about, apparently.

"Eh. Shikamaru, this strange guy with fuzzy eyebrows and.." He coughed, trying to muffle the name. "Sasuke-bastard."

"What was that last one? And by fuzzy-eyebrows I'm assuming you mean Lee." Sakura chuckled.

The blonde tried to lead the topic somewhere else. "Yeah! Lee! That's his name. He has weird fashion sense."

"Hah!" Sakura spoke loudly. "You're one to talk, Naruto. But really, who was that last one?"

"Sasuke-bastard." Naruto sighed.

"Oh." Sakura said, voice quiet. "For some reason, I can't remember that girl- the one who use to be my best friend."

Naruto looked at her, keeping silent.

"She helped me with a lot, but I can't remember her name or anything. I want to apologize. It was too long ago, and she transferred right after we became enemies." Sakura sighed, a sad smile on her face.

"Sakura.." The boy started. _Click!_ "Cheater! Just for that, I'm not going easy on you anymore."

"Oh, please. You couldn't do better if you _tried_." She teased.

"Hey look, it's Tenten!" Naruto yelled, waving with one hand.

Sakura snorted. "Pft. As if I'd fall for that."

"Fall for what?" Tenten popped up beside her, surprising the pink-haired girl. "This is Hyuuga Hinata, our roommate, and her cousin Neji. I met them in our room. When you left me there. _Alone._"

A sheepish grin spread on her face. "Hi! I'm Sakura." She was about to wave, but seeing the girl's outstretched hand, she shrugged.

"Nice to meet you." Hinata smiled, shaking the bubbly girl's hand. _Looks familiar_. She watched as the girl turned around and walked to the nearby vending machine.

"Naruto," The blonde boy introduced himself, blue eyes gleaming as he gave the two Hyuuga's a wave. "I think I've seen you two around before."

"And this," Tenten said, awkwardness now gone, "Is Seiichi, Kiba, Shikamaru, Chouji, and Shino." She continued, pointing each of them.

A smile still plastered on her face she nodded to each of them, Neji doing the same behind her. In Hinata's point of view, they looked rather strange. The group looked like a mix of people that would never hang out together. A jock, a punk, a goth-like, a slightly large boy, a plain normal guy, a prankster, a klutz, and a seemingly normal girl. But of course, she didn't know any of them yet and was just judging them appearance-wise. Including her and Neji, they now had a shy girl and a girly-man. Again, this was appearance-wise. Her stream of thought stopped short as another girl entered the group.

"Kiba! I've been looking everywhere for you!" A high-pitched voice squealed. A girl with dyed orange hair clad in a scarlet-red halter top that showed off her midriff and a short white skirt that ended in mid-thigh walked over to the brunette boy who was introduced as Kiba. Manicured nails were placed on the boy's shoulder. "Go to the dance with me tonight?"

Kiba was about to reply, but Seiichi cut in before he could mutter out a letter. "He can't!"

"Why not?" Her eyes glinted menacingly as her nails dug into the boy's tanned skin.

"He's going with someone!"

Kiba's eye twitched. "I am?" He asked at the same time as the girl asked 'He is?'. He was going to have nail marks on his arm later..

"Y-Yeah!" Tenten shouted, joining the conversation. "He's going with... with..." Her eyes darted around the room.

Her nails dug deeper, "With...?"

"Fritos, anyone?" Sakura's voice startled Tenten. The girl lifted up a small opened bag of chips. "What'd I miss? And what is Yukari doing here?" Her eyebrows were raised as she twisted the cap of her Root Beer off, taking a sip.

"Sakura!" Two voices shouted at once.

Tenten picked up a pillow and held it in front of her as if to shield herself. "Yes, he can't go with you to the dance because he's going with Sakura!"

Hinata's pearl eyes darted from Sakura to Kiba and back repeatedly. The two were about to protest, but Kiba's mouth was quickly shut by the large boy, Chouji, shoving chips into his mouth and Sakura was choking on her soda, Naruto helping her by patting her back. From the looks of it, they weren't too friendly with each other.

"Really.." Yukari asked suspiciously. She removed her hand from Kiba's shoulder to reveal five red lines that went a couple centimeters deep. Well, someone wasn't the brightest crayon in the box. Her dark brown eyes studied everyone in the room slowly, each of which gave a nod. "And who are you?" Yukari questioned, her gazes landing on Neji, she smiled flirtatiously.

"Don't even try- he's going with Tenten!" Sakura exclaimed, pointing at her best friend, a smug smirk on her face.

The Hyuuga girl faced her cousin, who surprisingly, looked startled. It was rare for him to show a recognizable emotion, but then again, he wasn't exactly a social bunny- so she figured it was understandable. He didn't comment, but didn't argue either.

Yukari growled and marched out of the room snottily. As soon as the door slammed shut, the shouting began.

"I'm not going to go with that _thing!_" Sakura whined, stomping her feet on the wooden floor childishly with her arms crossed over her chest.

"Who are you calling a thing? You're the _thing!_" Kiba yelled back.

"Sakura! I barely _know_ him- no offence Neji- what were you thinking?" Tenten groaned. She threw herself on a nearby pale-blue couch, digging her face into the pillow in her hands.

Sakura pulled at her pale pink hair. "Oh," She started sarcastically, "I'm sure _you_," She stressed the word, finger pointed at the girl, "knew what I was doing. You told her I was going to the dance with Inuzuka! You know I hate him."

"Hey! I'm right here ya' know?" Kiba rolled his eyes, annoyed.

"But you know I don't like you!"

"I wasn't the only one, Seiichi said it too!" Tenten pointed an accusing finger at the boy with jet-black hair. "And he's the one that started it!"

"Well I wasn't going to let my best friend suffer with that _creature!_" Seiichi yelled in defense, pointing at the closed door.

"But you'd let me suffer with," Kiba pointed at Sakura. "_That_ creature?"

"Shut up, you after school special!" She retorted back, eyes not leaving her best friend.

So the four were pointing to each other in trapezoid shape. Meanwhile, in the background, Naruto, Shino, Chouji, and Shikamaru were calmly munching on Sakura's Fritos that Naruto had somehow managed to grab from her unnoticed, looking in on the scene with amusement.

"Strange people, they are." Hinata heard Neji mutter quietly beside her. She let out a soft giggle.

"Judging by the four in the back, this is a normal thing." She whispered back.

A short silence followed it, the only sound being Hinata's shoe scuffing against the floor and the crunching of chips.

A chubby boy pushed the door open loudly, startling the ten of them. "Everyone to their rooms before twelve thirty! There's going to be a check to make sure no one's switching rooms."

And as if the whole argument hadn't happened at all, everyone started talking animatedly to each other- with the exception of Shikamaru and Shino. Hinata and Neji stood off the side, one with a smile and the other sweat-dropping. "I like these people, cousin Neji."

Sakura walked over to the Hyuuga boy. She leaned close, putting a hand to the side of her mouth. "Pick Tenten up at eight-thirty at our room!" She whispered.

"Ah, Sakura, I assumed it was a joke." Neji said. His eyebrows were raised and he shoved his hands into his pockets.

"Well if you really don't want to take her.." Sakura trailed off. Her lips turned into a pout and sea-foam eyes big and watery.

Neji looked back at her, unaffected by the dramatic act.

"It would be nice if you went." Hinata said softly beside him. "Why don't you go? I'm sure you'll have fun." She urged him. Her cousin needed to get out more, and this was his perfect chance.

"Hinata. Mr. Hyuuga told me to watch aft-"

"Hinata is coming with us, in a group of friends, right?" Naruto cut in, grinning he gave her a Lee-styled thumbs up pose.

Said girl looked down, fiddling with her thumbs. "May I, cousin Neji?" She requested.

Her cousin looked at her and sighed. "Alright."

Sakura and Naruto cheered, doing a small dance. "Okay! Tenten! Hinata! Race you to our room- no elevator!" She gave a toothy smile. Seeing the two nod, she got into a ready position. "Ready, set, go!" She yelped breaking into a sprint, and the three girls were off.

"Twenty bucks on Tenten." Shikamaru placed a crisp bill in the center of the pool table.

The silent boy with the shades nodded, placing another twenty atop. "I second."

"Third." Chouji said, pulling a couple of folded bills from his pocket.

"Thirty bucks says Sakura comes in first." Kiba snorted, throwing three bills into the middle. Knowing the pink-haired girl, she'd probably trip multiple times and get lost, but she was a fast runner. Seiichi nodded, throwing money into the pile.

Naruto looked throw his frog-like wallet, a frown set upon his face. "Five bucks on Hinata!"

A voice almost foreign to the rest called out. "Fifty on Hinata." Neji smirked, slamming his hand onto the table. Naruto grinned, throwing his arm around the boys shoulder. The boy just looked at him awkwardly in return, slowly shrugging the arm off.

The next couple of minutes were pretty much uneventful, except for the several thumps they heard from the floor above them that they assumed was Sakura.

Shikamaru yawned, checking the large clock on the other side of the lobby. "One of them should be up right now, with another not to far behind. Anyone know their room number?"

"416."

The lazy genius grabbed Seiichi's cell phone that was in his already outstretched hand. Dialing a number, he put it on speaker as they waited for someone to pick up.

"Hello? This is Hyuuga Hinata in room 416."

Naruto thrust his face into the air. "Chyeah!" He turned to the other Hyuuga, with a hand raised.

Neji stared oddly at the palm facing him, the blonde's eyes were close and curved happily, a grin on his face. Raising his hand as well, he gave the boy a very slow high-five. The two gathered the money, splitting it in half.

"Going back to my room." Shikamaru called out. He stood up and walked out of the room, his hand raised as a 'goodbye'.The rest of the boys followed his lead.

"Keebs! Wait up!" Kiba turned around to face the twin, eyebrow raised. "You better take my sister to the dance, got it? Seiichi grinned and gave him a hard slap on the back. Before Kiba even had a chance to complain, he was gone. He sighed, walking slowly he looked up and saw a silver haired man. A mischievous grin spread across his face and he followed the man to his room.

**.o.o.o.**

Sakura, Hinata, and Tenten lounged lazily on their couch, waiting for their last roommate's arrival patiently. The three of them were still tired from the short race, they came in one second after the other. Tenten, Hinata, Sakura. The ringing of the room phone echoed loudly through the room.

"I'll get it." The heiress said, standing up. She walked over to the phone and picked it up. "Hello? This is Hyuuga Hinata in room 416." She waited for a reply, but all she heard was someone celebrating, a voice that sounded vaguely like the blond boy that she met today. Hinata shrugged and put the phone back onto the receiver.

The door to the room suddenly opening caused everyone in the room to stare. They watched as a tall blonde girl walked into the room, several suitcases behind her. Baby-blue eyes immediately shot towards the two Takatori girls, giving them a snotty look.

"Eh? Ino?" Sakura asked, pointing to the girl, surprise etched on her face. "Yamanaka Ino from Yutsuko's?"

Ino threw another glare at the two before pushing the bags into the room and throwing them on her bottom bed. She, Yamanaka Ino, helped a _Takatori Ninja_ of all people, find the dress of her dreams. And not only that, but she complimented one of them? She shook her head, trying to stop thinking about it and took off her backpack. She sat on her bed Indian-style and sorted through the items in her backpack, ignoring the two girls on the couch.

"She's a lot different when she's not working." The pink-haired girl whispered quietly to her brunette friend. "But now that I really look at her, she looks familiar." She paused. "Not from the time we went dress shopping, but I think I've met her before that."

Tenten got up and went to open the door that had just been knocked. Twisting the handle open, she saw Hatake Kakashi and a lady with striking dark plum-colored hair and strict brown eyes. "Mr. Hatake." She greeted, nodding at the silver-haired man.

"Mitarashi Anko and Hatake Kakashi here!" The woman exclaimed enthusiastically. "Yamanaka Ino?" She asked, looking down at her clip board and pointing to the blonde, who nodded in reply.

"Tenten." Kakashi said in monotone, already knowing the couple of girl as his students. "Sakura?" A smile was seen through his mask when he saw the pink-haired girl wave. He walked over and gave the girl a pat on the head, effectively messing up her hair.

"And Hyuuga Hinata." Anko pointed at the last girl. "Alright, you may leave now." The two teachers marched out the door that slam shut behind them.

Tenten stared at the closed white door she was standing beside. "Well that was completely and utterly pointless." She shrugged, plopping back down on the plush couch. "Time?" Tenten asked.

Sakura put her head close to the television screen, staring at the device below it. "Three-fifty." She answered. "Wow. I didn't realize it was so late.

Ino pushed all of her belongings back into her backpack and got up, walking out of the room in the same matter she came in.

"Probably getting ready for the dance." Sakura said out loud. "I can't believe I'm going with dog-boy." She muttered annoyed.

"Sakura, Tenten." Hinata started, still standing by the telephone. "Shouldn't we be getting ready as well then?" Hearing the faint reply of 'I guess' she walked over to her sill-packed suitcase and unzipped it. She pulled out a long, silky, gown that was a light mocha color.

"Wow." Tenten stared at the dress, mouth wide open.

"Come to think of it," Sakura said thoughtfully. "I haven't seen your dress yet, T-dog!"

She sighed and zipped open her duffel bag, rummaging through it for a minute. "Here!" She exclaimed, pulling out a jade-green dress. She held it up to show the other girls and grinned when Sakura put thumbs up.

"We still have a problem," Sakura opened the closet and reached in, grabbing a hanger with the gown she had bought a few weeks ago on it. "I don't know how I'm going to do make-up."

"You're right." Tenten sighed, slapping her forehead. "The most I can do is put on the stinking dress."

"Maybe it's good that we're starting this early- it's going to take a while."

**.o.o.o. **

The next four hours was more or less aggravating. From throwing on dresses, and putting a cover over, to doing make-up and hair. Realizing that hair and make up should be done _after_ the dress is on, and having to redo it because it was ruined. Trying on different shades of make up and repeatedly straightening and curling hair. Wearing the wrong shoes and accidently breaking a heel and having to borrow a girl from the next room's instead. Forgetting to remove the hideously colored toe nails that were just painted a week ago for fun that ruined the whole look, then afterwards realizing you didn't have to because the dress touched the floor. But all in all, it was well worth it. The three girls finished with barely noticeable make-up, each of them with hair in a different style.

"How do these freakin' masks stay on your face?" Sakura whined, pressing a silver mask that would only cover the area around her eyes. Finally getting it on, were already ready. "Remind me to bring these shoes back to that girl later, please?" She asked she turned to her two friends who . She had only brung one pair of high heels- not expecting that she would trip while wearing them in and crack the heel off so easily. "Stupid cheap merchandise." Sakura grumbled to herself, kicking at the broken shoes that she brung with her to the cruise. Hearing a light knock on the door, she stood up and pulled it open.

Kiba stood at the door with a plain black tux with a look on his face that screamed reluctancy. "As much as I didn't want to do this.."

"Like-wise." Sakura murmured. "Let's make our entrance and get this over with."

"See you guys there!" Tenten yelled as the two rivals left the room, closing the door behind them. She looked down to the place where Sakura was previously sitting. A small, lime green, phone lay flipped over on the earthy-colored couch. "Hm. I'll just bring it down to the dance and give it to her." She said quietly to herself, eyeing the phone.

**.o.o.o.**

Kiba and Sakura walked on opposite ends of the hall as they went down to the banquet room. A sudden cough was heard behind them. Kiba turned back to see who it was, and his eyes widened. It was Hatake Kakashi in a tuxedo, mask and all. The teacher was currently looking down, but as soon as the single uncovered eye darted up and looked straight at him. Kakashi's eye darkened, mouth opening to yell the boy's name.

Hearing his name called out loud by the enraged man, he cursed and ran down the hall, taking a few turns before entering a nearby open door and pulling it so only a stream of light entered in from the door and the window.

Sakura rolled her eyes and ran as fast as she could in a long dress and high heels after him. Stopping at the door labeled 'Supplies Closet' and pulling it, she began to complain, but a hand covered her mouth and pulled her into the small room. The door was now shut closed and footsteps could be heard walking on the wooden floor. As soon as she assumed the person was gone, she turned to Kiba and glared at him angrily. "What was that about?" She yelled, shifting her body in the cramped room, that was conveniently empty.

"I snuck into Hatake's room and stole his fruity boxers." Kiba grinned, remembering the moment perfectly. "Then I stapled them to a bulletin board in one of the elevators." His arm was awkwardly shoved into Sakura's shoulder.

She groaned loudly. "Whatever. Just open the door so we can get to the dance." She said, nudging his side with her elbow.

He reached for the door knob, but frowned when his hand only grabbed air. Feeling around for the door knob, he accidently elbowed Sakura in the chest. After a few minutes of waving his hand in the air like an idiot, it hit him. "There's no door knob." he said slowly. Turning to the girl on his right, he watched her reaction.

"What do you _mean_ 'there's no door knob'?" She screamed, her fist connecting with his stomach. Satisfied when his arm shot to his belly in pain. "There has to be a door knob! What is this, a _closet?_" She paused, everything she saw in the last ten minutes finally processing. "Oh." She said quietly, looking down.

"Got your phone?"

Sakura felt her leg for her strapped pouch, but found nothing. "No."

Kiba sighed, leaning back. "Guess we just have to wait til someone looks for us or someone comes into get something."

"Get what? There's nothing in here." Sakura huffed, crossing her bare arms over her chest. "Seiichi and Tenten should be looking for us now." She said, but part of herself doubted it.

**.o.o.o.**

Tenten laughed as Naruto cracked another joke. The dance had been fun so far. She hadn't actually danced yet, but she was having enough fun just sitting around a table with her friends. She fingered the cellular phone in her overcoat pocket that was hung neatly over the back of her chair. "Sakura and Kiba should've arrived by now." She said worriedly to Hinata who was sitting beside her. They had left their room twenty minutes after the pair left and had just entered the banquet about five minutes ago.

"I'm sure they're on their way," Hinata said, putting a comforting hand on her shoulder. "What could possibly happen to them?"

Tenten thought for a moment. "You're right. It's not like they're going to end up stuck in a closet somewhere or anything. I mean, what are the chances of that happening?"

**.o.o.o.**

Sakura shifted uncomfortably for the umpteenth time in the past fifteen minutes they had been in the small room. Kiba gave her an annoyed look. Which she quickly shot back with an 'It's your fault we're stuck in this stupid closet at all.'

"...Kiba? I'm bored." Sakura said childishly, shoving the boy next to her, who gave her another look and closed his eyes shut. "Kiba... Temporary truce? At least until we get out of here- I don't like the silence." She paused. "But don't think I'm doing this because I don't hate you." She said, giving him a psychotic smile.

"Ugh. Fine. Seiichi would kill me if I didn't." He glared up at the window on the door, as if trying to curse the said boy.

"Doesn't this remind you of the time we got locked in that small hallway between the yard and the real hall in second grade?" Sakura asked, attempting to start a conversation.

Kiba let out a soft chuckle. He was her partner in the buddy system that week and she had to go to the bathroom. They didn't feel like walking around the school which seemed humongous to the two small kids, so they took the short cut. Unfortunately for them, the outer gate was locked and a certain pink-haired girl had accidently closed the door they came through from. I was secured shut and the couple of second graders were left screaming out for help in the cold. They eventually got out though, a boy- about thirteen years old was on a pair of slits and walked by them in the yard and walked around the school to open the door for them. "That guy was weird. Wonder what his name was." Kiba said, the scene replaying in his mind. "It's really cramped in here. Seiichi and Tenten better get here fast." He muttered.

"..Want to play twenty questions?" Sakura suggested weakly, peeling the mask off her face and putting it against the wall.

He groaned. "Not really."

"Well what do you want to play, _I Spy_?" She drawled, sarcasm written all over her shadowed face.

Twenty questions turned into forty, and the game went on for about a couple of long hours, in which their were many complicated questions. In those two hours, the two actually found their company nice for a change, and time flew by fast.

"Okay, okay, okay." Kiba interrupted the girl that would've been rolling around on the floor laughing if they had enough space. "It wasn't that funny.." He said. This girl took something as basically stupid as running around half nude with Disney patterned tighty-wighties on your head like a hat while making train noises, hilarious. "So what now?" He asked.

Sakura yawned. "Don't know. I'm kind of tired, actually. Woke up early and didn't have any tea." She said quietly, blushing a slight pink hue when she remembered what had happened that morning. "Know what time it is?"

"Yeah, I'm kind of tired too." He sighed. "We left at around 8:15. It's been hours since."

Sakura frowned. "This sucks." Her eyes were slowly blinking closed, it took a lot of her effort to keep them open.

Seeing his 'rival' almost falling over in sleep-deprivation, he spoke up. "..Why don't we try getting some sleep then?"

"Stupid closet's freaking puny." There was just barely enough room for another person. She let out a breath. "Might as well make the best of it." Kiba nodded in agreement, and they turned around to try and get comfortable. Eventually, the only way to get more space and be contented at the same time was for Sakura to lay her head on Kiba's lap, body turned to the side so she was facing the door. Her knees were bent with her toes touching the wall, shoes taken off long ago, hair untied. Kiba almost in the same position as he was earlier, but had more arm space. His head had lolled to the corner of the room, his back pressed up against the back of the closet and his legs straight in front of him. His coat was taken off and being used as a blanket. Not more than ten minutes later, they found themselves drifiting off to sleep.

**A/N: I know, I know, lame ending that's totally cliche, but I had to do it. A lot of you are asking me if the sand siblings are going to be in this. Temari was mentioned a little in chapter two, and Gaara was introduced here. I'll probably flip a coin to see whether or not Kankuro will be a high-schooler, or a graduate. Seiichi won't be paired up with anyone, for those who are curious. Oh! And Neji and Tenten **won't **be a pairing, I'll occasionally be throwing in a few hints of couples just for fun. By the way, I changed the names to last name, first name to make it less annoying for people to read. I still won't be using honorifics, and plan to avoid typing with fangirl-Japanese. My beta's internet has been canceled for the month, so next chapter won't be up til then. I have a bunch of plans for it though. :)**

Next Chapter: Enter, Uchiha Sasuke!


	5. Chapter Five

**Like a Walk in the Park **

**By xx Hikari E**

**Summary - AU The students of Shiniko High School and Takatori Academy are arch rivals. A over summer cruise is set out to attempt to change that. Sakura x Kiba.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any of the characters.**

**A/N: Thanks to all the reviewers! I got a whooping **26** reviews for the last chapter. Special thanks to **LovelessLife**, for reviewing months after I posted the last chapter, which urged me to get off my lazy butt and finish this chapter.**

**Chapter Five**

Tenten glanced wearily on the stage, where their school presidents stood facing each other, yelling profanities. She smacked her head against a nearby wall. That was the longest speech she had ever stayed awake to. It began when Takatori's class president, Okado Teika, proudly congratulating them on finishing their junior year and encouraging them to reach for higher goals- obviously written by the principal's secretary to sound 'well put'. When it was Shiniko's president, Tokaji Yosuke's, turn Teika had inconspicuously snorted at a corny line which had caused the Tokaji boy to curse at the girl for being so incredibly hypocritical. The result was an all-out verbal war between the two students.

She turned to her friend's and told them she was going to go to the bathroom. Principal Tsunade had only said they had to stay until the speeches were finished, and judging by the activity that was taking place on stage at the moment, it was over. She fingered the cell phone in her coat pocket and exited the room, but not before dragging an oblivious Seiichi with her. She was going to find Sakura and Kiba, and she wasn't going to do it alone.

Seiichi looked utterly confused as Tenten explained the situation to him. He hadn't even noticed his best friend and sister hadn't arrived. Guess he was too caught up in the 'excitement' to notice. Ignoring the lack of apprehension, she convinced him to help her search for them.

Tenten rolled her eyes after they had split up. Usually, when someone is around you all the time, you notice when they are gone. Suddenly, a light bulb miraculously appeared above her head. "Akamaru!" She muttered to herself. Pulling Sakura's phone out, she dialed the number under 'Blondie' and held it to her ear. A few quick words were exchanged and in a matter of minutes Naruto was beside her with the mutt in his hands.

"Heh." Naruto grinned sheepishly. "Kiba dropped it off a while ago. Something about a teacher after him." He placed the dog on the ground and watched as it's ear immediately perked up. "Nice idea, by the way." He complimented.

"Thanks." She replied. Akamaru then put his nose to the wooden floor and sniffed a few times before he took off running. "Let's go!" Tenten exclaimed. She quickly slipped her shoes off and held them in one hand, afterwards picking up the front of her dress and sprinting down the hallways.

"Hey, do you think we should tell Seiichi?" Naruto asked as they took a sharp turn into the staircase. The two looked at each other and shook their heads simultaneously. "Nah."

The trio had ran for a good seven minutes before stopping at a closet door. Akamaru barked and jumped up an down, gnawing his paws at the door. Shrugging, Naruto pulled the door open to find a sleeping Kiba and Sakura.  
Kiba's eyes shot open, but quickly shut as the light surrounded him. He felt like he'd only been asleep for a minute... or less. He yawned and stood up abruptly, walking out of he small room-if you could call it that, hearing a small thump and grunt as Sakura's head made contact with the ground. "What time is it?"

Naruto looked around the hallway for a clock. "10:22."

Well what do you know, he had been asleep for a couple of minutes. Kiba shrugged, "Well I'm leaving now." He picked Akamaru up and promptly walked out of the area.

"What happened?" Tenten kneeled beside her still-on-the-floor-half-asleep friend.

"I'll tell you some other time." Sakura mumbled. Using her hands, she pushed herself up and off the ground.

Tenten sighed, reaching over to grab Sakura's stuff. She stood up and shoved the items into Naruto's arms. "You better, I have a lot of questions."

**.o.o.o.**

Sakura woke up to a sudden flash of bright light. Groggily, she turned over and blinked her eyes open. Tenten stood on the desk chair with one hand pulling the curtains back, and the other one on the desk for support. She was about to complain but Tenten cut her off. "Get up, Principal Tsunade and the creepy Shiniko principal dude called for a gathering twenty minutes ago." Tenten stated, jumping off the chair. "I just got out of the shower, Hinata told me."

She sat up and ran a hand through her pink hair, flinching as it got stuck halfway through. "I still need to shower though!"

Tenten glanced at the clock. "You got five minutes. I'll meet you down in the lobby."

Grumbling to herself as Tenten shut the door behind her, Sakura got up and ran.

**.o.o.o.**

The lobby was packed when she arrived, hair still dripping wet from her three minute shower. It was anything but organized. Students were in crowds chatting wildly and the room was divided into two sloppy halves. In the very center, Tsunade and Orochimaru stood, annoyance evident on the woman's face.

Quietly closing the large door behind her, she blended in with the mass of Takatori Ninjas off to the right side of the room. She spotted Shikamaru and Chouji and pushed her way through to them, occasionally muttering an apology to those the bumped in to.

"What the hell is going on?" She whispered as soon as she reached the two. They were hunched up at the very corner of the room, squeezed in between groups of teeny-boppers and goths.

Shikamaru was quick to reply. "You'll hear about the whole thing in a minute." He sighed, leaning his back against the formally decorated wall. "Some things happened yesterday night that the principal wasn't too happy about. This troublesome 'let's all be friends!' thing isn't working out."

A couple more student entered the room, and there was a minute of silence before Tsunade spoke up. "I-" She stopped suddenly and a disturbed look crossed her face as the creepy man beside her whispered in her ear. "We are very disappointed in all of you. Last night was meant to get you to open up to your 'rivals'." Her hazel eyes traveled through the room, glaring at those who dared to talk. "I only saw a one mere group of merged students."

"For that, there is a consequence." A slithery voice spoke up. The tone of Shiniko's Principal's voice reminded Sakura vaguely of a mentally-ill pedophile. The way he talked sent shivers down her spine. "We are going to play a game together." A sick grin formed on his face.

That line caused loud whispers and disgruntled expressions to spread from the females of the ninja's side.

"We all," Tsunade stressed the word, glaring at most of the male athletes in the room, "are going to play that silly little game you played in middle school to get to know your classmates," She heard the groans of disappointment and irritation, and a smirk could just barely be seen on her face. "Ice-Breakers." She finished brusquely. "Now secretaries Kabuto and Shizune will pass out the papers." She suddenly grinned widely, mischievous glint forming in her eyes. "Did I forget to say that there are one-hundred questions? And that all of those questions must be signed directly from a student from another school? I'm sure all of you also already know that a person can only sign your form once." And with that last statement, she walked to the side of the room where the staff mingled, Orochimaru following behind her with a grin that showed all signs of perversity.

Shikamaru let out a long sigh. "Just by looking at them you can tell that the questions are obviously going to be stupid and troublesome." He pointed out definitely, referring to the two elderly principals. "Something juvenile like, 'Find someone who's aunt from their mother's side is double-jointed.' is bound to show up." He said monotonously, receiving a snort from Chouji and a short laugh from Sakura.

The whole passing out process took up about twenty minutes. When each student received a small packet (five pieces of stapled paper with questions in a boxed 4 by 5 grid) and a different colored pen (cool colors for Shiniko and warm colors for Takatori), Tsunade explained that the paper must be filled by the end of the week and ordered them to start as soon as they could.

Sakura held the packet in her hands, skimming lightly through the questions as she walked out onto the deck of the boat. "Wow, these are weird questions." She muttered quietly to herself. Her eyes widened and she flipped back a page, peering closely to question number 47. "Hey, what do you know? Shikamaru was right."

Sakura started to walk to the lobby, she knew she'd find her brother there. And his stupid jerky-faced best friend. She sighed. The temporary truce had served well, and she really didn't think he was that bad of a guy anymore. But she still held many grudges, and for that, she would continue on hating him unless every single thing is fixed, given back to her, or freshly bought. Until then, they would remain enemies. So they would probably be calling each other names until he's married with children.

"Hah." Sakura snorted. "Who would want to marry him." She murmured, arriving in front of the already open lobby, she walked straight in and threw herself on the couch beside her twin, eyes closing in the process. The whole gang was there.

"Hey, Sak." Seiichi greeted, giving a hard pat to her head. He only smiled when she growled at him.

"Ugh." Tenten said disgustedly. "It's Mayumi." Everyone's head turned to the newcomer.

"What's so bad about her?" The Hyuuga heiress whispered to Tenten.

"You'll see."  
A not-so-modest girl was approaching them. She was pretty- light blonde hair spilled over her shoulders, and she had clear hazel eyes. She wore a tight light green halter top with a short jean skirt. If it wasn't for her make-up or clothing choices, she would appear completely innocent.

"Hello, Kiba." She drawled in what Sakura guess was suppose to be an alluring tone. Nozara Mayumi took a few steps closer to him, and breathed in.

"Is she trying to get high off him or something?" Sakura whispered to her brother, eyebrow raised high.

"I had a lot of fun last night." She smiled 'seductively', using her fingers to comb through her hair so they fell back in her eyes.

Everyone stared at Kiba and Mayumi in confusion. Sakura's eyebrow raised even higher, if possible.

"Oh. Really." Kiba said flatly. "Now just where was I?" He asked, backing away a step from the blonde girl. She was beginning to creep him out.

"In my dreams." She replied. Mayumi winked and blew a kiss at him. Then she stood still, as if waiting for a reply.

For a short moment, they were all silent. Not even Naruto peeped out a word. Then as if it was all on cue, they all burst out laughing at the same time.

Mayumi looked completely lost. "W-what's so funny?" She managed to stutter out.

"Dude, that was such a lame pick-up line!" Naruto said in between laughs.

Mayumi blushed bright red in embarrassment. "First of all, it wasn't a pick-up line, it was the truth and-" Her voice was drowned out by even more and louder laughs. She stomped her foot on the rug-covered floor angrily. "Fine. If you think it's so funny, then what's a good pick-up line to you, Mr. Know-it-all?" She directed a glare to Naruto.

"That shirt looks very becoming on you," Naruto paused for a moment, then continued. "But if I were on you, I'd be cumming too." He tried it in a sexy voice, as if mocking Mayumi. Loud laughs erupted from the males, but Tenten whacked him on the back of his head with her rolled up packet.

Mayumi was fuming. "Well-"

"Hey Hinata," Seiichi spoke up. Everyone directed their attention to the pair. "Can I borrow a piece of paper and a pen?"

The quiet girl looked at him questioningly. "What is it for?" She asked slowly.

"Because I told my mother I'd write to her when I found the perfect girl." Seiichi ended with a smile. Tenten and Sakura cooed in unison.

"Look, now that one was so much sweeter, Naruto." Tenten said, sticking her tongue out at him.

"Hey Tenten, can I borrow a piece of paper and a pen?" Naruto grinned when he was whacked on the head once again by the laughing Tenten.

"Okay, it's old now." Sakura chuckled.

Mayumi squealed in outrage and stormed off.  
"Hey, you guys scared her away with pick-up lines." Shikamaru snorted, lying flat out next to a couch on the rug. Apparently, he didn't care much of hygiene. "How ironic."

"Not to mention, bad pick-up lines." Hyuuga Neji added monotonously from beside his cousin.

"I want to see Mr. Oh-so-silent Hyuuga Neji give it a try then." Kiba smirked. It was a challenge. But it was likely that Neji wouldn't accept.

"I'll take on your challenge, Inuzuka." A new voice called out from across the room. And as if in a true Hollywood film, wind blew raven locks to the side and they covered deep, onyx eyes. A smirk adorned his lips as he shoved his hands in the pocket of his shorts and made his way towards them. To be honest, he had really no idea what the challenge was, but he wouldn't back down. He just assumed they would be having a quick spar.. If they even knew how to fight. Or if not, it might be a manly thumb war. Or arm wrestle.

"Uchiha Sasuke." Kiba spat out. No, not literally.

Meanwhile, Sakura looked at the newly arrived boy with wide eyes, mind clouding over. She thought of all those times she chased after him, like an angry school kid running after a bus that only comes every hour in the rain. Minus the angry.

"You start." Sasuke said calmly. He was a bit surprised when Kiba began to talk. No, not talk, woo someone.

"Is your name Visa®?" Kiba asked no one in particular, arms crossing over his chest. "Because you're everywhere I want to be." A smirk adorned his lips.

Everyone else, on the other had, began to choke with laughter. Even Sakura fell out of her reminiscing moment and giggled. Sasuke just stood there confused and a bit weary since a guy just hit on him.

"Hah!" Naruto pointed at him. "You're such a loser!" And then resumed to laughing at the boy.

Kiba growled. Never one to let someone off for something like that, he glared at the hyper blonde. "Your turn."

The Uchiha snorted. "Like I'd degrade myself to this." He shoved his hands in his pockets and began to walk away.

"Bastard."

The raven-haired teen froze, and slowly turned around, smirk on his face. "Are you challenging me, Inuzuka?"

**.o.o.o.**

Tenten heaved a long sigh as she held an ice pack to Kiba's cheek. The fight had last only long enough for the two males to land one punch on each other. A teacher had saw, and sentenced both to in-house suspension for the first two days on the island.

They were all hanging out in room 416. Kiba sat uncomfortably on the couch as Tenten stood behind him. Shikamaru laid lazily on Sakura's bed, almost asleep. Hinata sat on the chair by the desk, quietly adjusting an old-fashioned camera. Neji had taken the other end of the couch, and was flipping through the channels. Sakura, Seiichi, and Naruto sat in a small triangle in front of the television with a thick stack of Uno cards.

"Here," Tenten said, shoving the ice pack into Kiba's hand, ignoring the protest. "My arm is tired, hold it yourself." She climbed up the short ladder and relaxed herself on her bed, smothering her face into her pillows.

The door opened slowly and Yamanaka Ino stepped into the room. Not even noticing the presence around her, she kicked off her shoes and sat at the foot of her bed.

Sakura studied the blonde before taking a glance out the door, spotting a familiar figure. "I forfeit." She threw her cards into the pile. "I'll be right back." With that, she ran out the door, quickly closing it behind her.

"Hey Ino! Are you alright?" Naruto yelled across the room.

Ino looked up, and then everyone saw it. Her eyes were tearing, but she wasn't crying yet. She grabbed a few items before standing up and walking to the bathroom without a word.

Seiichi raised an eyebrow. "She dropped something." He pointed to the foot of the desk and motioned for Hinata to pick it up.

"I-It's a photo." Hinata's soft voice sounded loud in the nearly silent room. Her big pearl eyes studied the picture for a few minutes, as if memorizing every detail of it. "I believe it is Sakura and Ino, when they were about five or six, taken at Konoha park."

The picture showed two girls, a blond and an abnormally pink-haired child sitting in a field of flowers. Their hair was blown wildly and you could faintly see the outline of children playing in the background.

"No way!" Naruto ran over to Hinata's side. "Sakura and Ino were friend when they were younger?" The question was directed towards Seiichi and Kiba, whom had known Sakura the longest.

Seiichi looked off to the side. "I wouldn't know, I missed a lot of my childhood." He grinned and gave Kiba a hard pat on the leg. "Keebs though, always followed my sister around when we were younger." He lifted himself up from sitting position and stretch. "I'm going to walk down and buy myself some soda. See you guys in a few."

Kiba sighed as four pairs of eyes were directed towards him. Tenten had even sat up and was leaning over the edge of the bed. "They more than just friends, they were _best_ friends. I was probably the only one minus the lazy ass over there-" He pointed at the napping Shikamaru. "That remember."

"Whenever Seiichi wasn't with her, Sakura was always bullied by older kids about her humongous forehead. One girl, Yamanaka, stood up for her. She told Haruno to meet with her again the day after at the same place. I don't know what happened, but when she came back home, a red ribbon was holding her hair back out of her face." He paused. "From then on, me and Seiich would always see her hanging around this blond girl. She changed after that, becoming less shy and more confident. Less than a year later, the girl moved away. Sakura must've forgotten her name, but she does still have the ribbon. She brings it everywhere with her." he finished the story shortly.

"Where is Sakura now?" Hinata questioned, handing the photo to Naruto so he could look at it. Everyone responded with a shrug. The Hyuuga heiress mimicked the action and sat back down on the chair.

The bathroom door swung open, and a very shocked Ino stood at the doorway.

**.o.o.o. **

Sakura sped up her walking pace to catch up with the guy in front of her.

He turned around abruptly and stared straight at her. "Haruno Sakura." She felt like melting.

Sakura nervously grabbed her elbow with her hand as she looked up to meet his dark eyes. "Sasuke. You remember my name?"

A smirk spread across his lips. "How could I forget? You used to annoy me everyday."

She winced, looking down at her feet. It hurt that she still hadn't gotten over him after all those years. She almost believed that she had forgotten about him, and that her infatuation was no longer there, but it seemed now that she had been lying to herself the whole time. "I-I'm sorry."

"Ah, well it was the past." He stated, turning around. "You've changed."

Her green eyes widened slightly. Did he just forgive her and compliment her, but also insult her at the same time? "You're right, I have changed." She will end this silly crush _now_. "You don't have to worry about me running after you anymore, because I'm not like that now." Her confidence was growing. "I am not the foolish little fan girl I once was, and I damn hope I never am again." She started to walk away, trying to make an escape before she deflated.

"..Sakura." Sasuke spoke. His voice had softened and he did his signature hands-in-pockets. "Remember the last time you saw me, you said that you would wait for me?" He sounded calm, but there was almost noticeable emotion in his words.

Her breath caught in her throat, and her she stood glued to the spot. No. No... No... _No_. Not when she was about to give up on him for good. Not when she was about to let him go forever. Please don't say it.

"Will you still give me a chance?"

She willed herself to look at him, and found his eyes looking straight into hers. She felt tears forming in her eyes. She muttered a soft goodbye, knowing he expected an answer soon.

And then she ran.

**.o.o.o. **

Ino could feel all the stares on her as she walked out of the bathroom. She had heard everything.

When she had saw the pink-haired girl two weeks prior, it had sparked a memory in her mind. The day after their meeting, she had dug through her old stuff and found the picture. She didn't think that they'd see each other again so soon.

She wished that she could've just hugged her old friend and began filling her in on the big gap between their lives, but when Ino saw that she had forgotten her, all thought of that were erased from her mind.

She had screwed up, and now she was going to fix it.

Ino broke into a walk and began looking though the halls. As she passed a vending machine, she stopped and did a double take.

"Hey," She called out, as soon as her presence was acknowledged she began to ask. "Do you remember me? Not from today, but from a very long time ago?"

Haruno Seiichi didn't remove his gaze from his freshly opened orange soda. "Yeah. You're the only person aside from my parents that know of my secret."

"Yes." Ino took a breath. "I promised that if anything happened, that I'd take care of her." She studied the boy in front of her that had trusted her with the largest secret she had ever had to keep in her entire life when she was only six. He surprised her, how he managed to keep something this big from his closest friends and his sister was beyond her, but she hadn't told a soul. It was amazing how long of a way a pinky promise could go between a couple of kids.

"Talk to her, she needs it." The normally energetic boy looked at her, and she knew right then _why_.

"Don't worry." Flashing him her best smile, and knowing he understood her completely, she left.

**A/N: Ahh, this chapter did _not_ come out like I wanted it to. And I know that all of you always have to wait _months_ for my chapters to come out. I made this as long as I could, and it's still very short. I hope you guys aren't as disappointed in this chapter as I am. Since I wanted to get this chapter in as soon as possible, it has not been beta-ed yet. Since I always like to give the reviewers a chance to add to the story,** NOW is the time to leave a note on any pairings you'd like to see in this story. **Majority wins, I guess. Anyone can go with anyone, with the exception of the main pairing. I'll stop counting whenever the next chapter comes out... Which probably won't be soon considering I'm terribly procrastinating. Track season has started yet again, and I'm graduating in three months. I'm supposed to get my acceptance and rejection letters from schools soon, and I'm once again addicted to _Maplestory_. If anyone plays, add me on Scania. D **


	6. Chapter Six

**Like a Walk in the Park **

**By xx Hikari E**

**Summary - AU The students of Shiniko High School and Takatori Academy are arch rivals. A over summer cruise is set out to attempt to change that. Sakura x Kiba.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any of the characters.**

**A/N: Hellooo. Um, I can't explain the extreme late-ness of this chapter. On the brighter side, here's a chapter (a whooping 9 pages- not my best, I know)! I know most of you probably forgot what the whole story was about- so did I! So to make up for it, this one has some KibaxSakura interaction (that wasn't originally planned, but it's for you guys). Comments would be nice- I know, I'm the worst updater ever. I can't promise a new chapter soon, but I can try. If any of you out there are even still **_**reading**_** this, then I love you. Very much. Haha. On to the chapter! Extra note: **This is **not** yet beta-ed.

Edit: 05/06/08 - minor changes added.

**Chapter Six**

It was dark outside.

Sakura leaned against the railing as she studied the seemingly endless ocean in front of her. The sky was star-filled and clear, flowing and meshing seamlessly with the water. She felt pathetic, standing there confused, debating on whether or not she should even _consider_ giving him a chance after all she had went through. Some may think that it wasn't much, but she was an emotional teenage girl.

The sounds of small waves hitting the side of the ship were calming. It was a constant, almost rocking feeling that made Sakura relax on the rail. Although the whole scene was peaceful and serene, the mass of students conversating around her broke any chance of having space for her to ponder about her situation alone.

In a flurry of movement, she skillfully navigated her way to the lobby and arrived back at her original position with the addition of a nifty black hotel pen and paper.

She always liked making charts.

They had helped her a lot in the past, especially when concerning her academics, though they also benefitted her with her personal situations. From mixture solutions to comparing and contrasting. Pie charts came first for her, always. Following closely behind them were line graphs. Pros and cons was a mere fifth on the list, but in this case, she figured it was more appropriate.

_Agreeing to date Sasuke_:

_Pros:_

1. It would piss Seiichi.

2. It would piss Kiba off.

3. It would piss a lot of girls off.

_Cons_:

1. He's good-looking.

2. He has a lot of girls after him.

3. He wasn't very friendly before.

4. He has the personality of a peanut.

5. He's pale.

6. His hair sticks up in odd directions.

7. His complexion is too perfect.

8. He is too high-class.

9. She would lose what she took a long time to build up.

10. He was tall.

11. She was pretty short.

Her eyes read her list mindfully, dutifully double-checking her ideas. She contemplated a lot on where some of the phrases really belonged. Her mind was automatically flipped into worst-case-scenario mode.

A soft clicking noise approached her, but she didn't turn around. She remained focused on the list in her hand.

The clicking stopped.

"Hey."

She looked up. Ino stood in front of her, hands wringing her wrists. The moon shone at an angle that made her appear ethereal and fairytale-like. Offering a smile to the blonde, she responded to the short greeting.

Sakura also liked fairytales.

Fairytales were her link to what could never happen in real life. She remembered sitting with her mother as a child on movie-night Mondays, fleece blanket clutched tightly in her small hands. The prince always saved the princess, they married, and then they lived happily ever after. Of course, that would be after less than one day of being within each other's presence. But of course, she had always dreamed of her happily ever after. The perfect scenery, the saving from danger, the handsome prince, the single kiss. But in reality, she knew that dreaming that big would only end in her disappointment.

"What do you have there?"

Her hands tightened around the thin piece of paper. She shoved it behind her back and flashed a toothy grin at the girl nervously, "Oh, nothing, just some homework."

A slender blonde eyebrow raised. "Right. Well, I just wanted to... say hi. And apologize. For before, I mean. I wasn't being too friendly." Ino avoided Sakura's eyes to prevent the situation from turning more awkward.

"Oh."

"Yeah." Periwinkle eyes focused in on the paper in Sakura's hand, that had drifted to the side of her leg. She read the neatly-printed cursive writing and she could feel herself frown outwardly. "So, homework? About going out with Sasuke?"

Sakura's eyes widened a fraction of an inch. She stuttered on her words, trying to develop a polite sentence in her head while speaking. "Uh, yeah, just a chart."

Then, as if it was a classic movie moment, there was a single gust of wind.

That single gust of wind pulled the paper out of Sakura's hand easily and the sheet swirled in the air in a mocking fashion. It then landed softly, straight into the palm of Ino's outstretched hand.

She knew her eyebrows were furrowed as she watched Ino skim the paper. Not wanting to appear impolite, she made no move to stop her.

When the Yamanaka was finished, she lifted her head up and their eyes connected. Sakura could see hints of disappointment and anger displayed in the pair of blues. She gave her a wry smile, as only one side of her mouth could lift when she tried to smile.

"Oh, I see."

And suddenly the situation sped into awkwardness. For a while, neither one of them moved.

Sakura coughed, eyes downcast. Her hand raised to hold her elbow. "Well, Seiichi will be wondering where I went." She made a move to walk away, but halted her actions quickly. "Um, the-"

Ino handed her the piece of paper and forced a smile. "Yes. See you later."

"Bye." Sakura's voice came out high-pitched and she knew her nerves could be heard. She made her exit.

She needed, she thought as she walked slowly to her room, to have a talk to Tenten. She trusted the brunette to stop her from making stupid decisions.

She folded the crumpled piece of paper incase everyone else was still in the room and knocked on the wooden door. She waited patiently, and she couldn't stop the smile that formed on her face when she heard her friends yelling at each other about who should get up and open the door. She heard Shikamaru's ever-so-popular slogan, and greeted him when he opened the door.

Sakura surveyed the room and noticed her brother's presence missing. "Hey, where's Seiichi?"

Tenten cursed from her bunk, "Shoot, Sakura, can you get that and put it back over his cheek?" She was pointing to Kiba, who had fallen asleep on the couch. Still in upright position, his head rested on the corner of the couch and one of his arms dangled off the edge, ice pack lying in a pathetic heap below it on the carpet beside the pile of Uno cards that Naruto had neglected to clean up before he knocked out on Sakura's bed. "Oh, and he left to get something to eat a while ago."

Sakura sighed, and walked over to her enemy. She had to admit, in a way, they _were_ sort-of-kind-of-friends. Arguing with him relieved stress and anger from her system and was sort-of-kind-of-fun. She picked the melted ice pack and with a swift flick of her wrist, the bag flung into the trash can in the corner of the room with a soft thump.

"Hinata, please!" A new ice pack flew into her waiting hand. "Thank-you."

She grabbed Kiba's hand and placed the ice pack in it. She felt a tingle travel through her body, but waved it off as the ice affecting her. In an act to rid the feeling from herself, she pulled his arm so that his cheek was propped up against it and let go. The feeling left as fast as it came, and Sakura couldn't help but feel relieved.

"Tenten, I need to talk to you about something."

She knew Tenten could feel the seriousness in the situation. The girl nodded and jumped off the bunk, channeling her weight so she landed light on her feet. "Let's go get something from the vending machines."

"Wait." Hinata's soft voice called out. The pearl-eyed girl picked up an empty bowl-like object with a lid and handed it to Tenten, who only looked back at her in confusion. "It's for ice, we don't have any more. Would you mind re-filling it?"

The girls agreed and left the room holding the icebox.

Their sock-clad feet padded softly on the wooden floor as they walked down the straight hallway. They made a sharp turn to the left when they heard the light humming of the machines.

"So, what is this thing that you need to tell me about?" Tenten was experimentally prodding at the ice machine that she had never seen before, pressing down on random buttons in numerous combinations.

Sakura fiddled with the crisp five dollar bill as she stood in front of the vending machine. "Oh, you know, Uchiha Sasuke just kind-of asked me out." She studied her best friend as the brunette's expression changed from confusion to surprise.

"_What_?" Tenten sputtered. Ice machine forgotten, she faced Sakura. "Sit and give me details, girly." She watched Sakura open her mouth to protest and dropped down onto the floor herself, leaning on the vending machine, that gave out a warm heat. "No, sit." She patted her hand on the tiled floor, smiling with satisfaction as the sighing girl plopped beside her.

Sakura walked her through her dilemma from the very start of the story to where it left off, even throwing in the tidbit with Ino in it and the whole time, Tenten listened attentively.

"Can I see this chart of your's?"

She nodded and fished the folded piece of paper out of her pocket and handed it to Tenten, slightly anxious on what her response would be.

"Sakura?"

"Yes?"

"How is being very good-looking a con?" Tenten gave her an expectant look, pointing at number one accusingly. "And having a good complexion?" Her other finger stretched over to point at number seven.

She had prepared herself for this question. "If he's good-looking, then think about how we'd look together. The all-time pretty boy- and me. And, although I _would_ find pleasure in pissing off the fan girls, note number three, they could also go berserk and create riots to overthrow me, or something." She grinned at Tenten's exasperated expression, and waited for her rebuttal.

"Sakura, this isn't a stupid chick story, _really_, this is reality. No rabid girls are going to try to kill you for going after the man they worship." She chided her, wagging her finger at Sakura in a motherly fashion.

"But-"

"No, hun. Next question. Go."

"He'll make my skin look diseased."

Tenten stared at her disbelievingly. "You're kidding me."

Sakura smiled sheepishly and shrugged.

The chocolate-eyed girl sighed. "Look, Sakura, I'm not saying you should agree, but please, think this out a little more." She paused. "Really, I'm _not_ saying you should agree, especially if this is the same guy who has hurt you in the past. Waving off every little thing that has the possibility of hurting you shouldn't be the reason why you're going to refuse him." She groaned, leaning her head back against the machine. "Just- just get your problems sorted out before you make a decision. Do you get what I mean?"

She looked down, deep in thought. "Yeah, I think I do."

Her friend smiled at her stretching as she stood up. "I'm going to go get Neji and figure out how to work _this-_" she kicked the ice machine "-thing. See you in the room, Kura. Don't sit out here too long." She patted the girl's shoulder reassuringly and left the small room.

Sakura took a deep breath.

She had a lot of thinking to do.

**.o.o.o.**

For the next few days, Sakura stayed quiet and had avoided any unnecessary conversation, opting to focus on her current problem. She had been seeking out Sasuke, but he was always accompanied by a few people.

It wasn't until one week later that Sakura managed to catch the Uchiha alone (The ship was enormous, but the abundance of students countered that- plus 32). The exchange was awkward and silent, and Sasuke had taken it a little more than indifferently. They just stood for a while, both looking out at the widespread ocean in a passive silence.

They weren't friends, but acquaintances, and she was okay with that, but the whole thing just put her in a bad mood.

As Sakura took her time walking down the hallway to the dining hall to join her friends for dinner, mind flowing with thoughts on 'what if' and 'maybe's. She pushed her way through the crowded archway filled with indecisive students and people searching for seats, getting elbowed harshly in the side and narrowly avoiding two large and very unhappy looking jocks.

The room gave off a warm and friendly aura and was organized like a food court, bright signs and stands surrounding the perimeter of the room and tons of chairs and tables randomly dispersed in the center.

"Hey, over here!"

She stopped in mid-step and scanned the crowd. Naruto stood out, standing in a bright orange t-shirt that further illuminated his shock of hair and waving his arms in the air. She wasted no time rushing over, not even bothering to apologize or excuse herself while shoving past other teens.

"Hello, stranger. Grab a chair, we haven't hung out in a while." Tenten called out to her when she was nearing the small, meant-for-four table. She sat beside Kiba, with Neji and Hinata in front of them and Naruto on a third side.

"Where's my brother?" Sakura asked. She pulled her seat to the last vacant spot, beside Kiba and across from Naruto. Her lips twitched into a frown when a foot knocked against hers and she was quick to shoot a glare towards Kiba, who just grinned wolfishly at her. "Jerk." She muttered. Everyone around the table shrugged.

Naruto pulled out a paper plate from under his own and shoved it at her. "Here," He handed her a plastic fork and motioned the large tray of ravioli that was nearly half eaten. "Take some."

She shoveled a pile of food onto her plate hastily, nose wrinkling in disgust as she saw oil spots develop on the paper.

Sakura heard a snort, and she knew Kiba was holding in a cliched crack joke at her weight and eating habits. Fixing him with a hard glare, she kicked under the table at his feet.

"So, what's going on with you guys?" Naruto asked while chewing happily into his Italian meal..

"Same old, same old." Tenten sighed, picking absentmindedly at her food with Kiba and Naruto made idle conversations in the background. "Man, we need some drama in our lives." Kiba snorted as she said that, and she started again. "Well, all of us except Miss Sakura over here, with her Sasuke problems. That guy is such an ass."

"He's not that bad of a guy, you know." Sakura said slowly.

Tenten scoffed, but continued to eat. "Are you kidding me? He fucking broke your _heart_ and-"

"Stop it, Tenten. You don't know anything about it!" Her mouth opened and the words flowed out before she could think. Why was she defending him anyways? She knew Tenten was right, but part of her felt the need to defend her past-crush.

Tenten dropped her fork and frowned. "What's up with the attitude? I was just joking around."

"It's nothing, alright? I don't have an _attitude_." She snapped. The whole table quieted. The light scratch of wood was heard, and she looked up to see Tenten rising from her seat. "Look, I'm just-"

"I know I wasn't there when you guys were younger, but maybe I would know if you would even _talk_ to me anymore. You have your problems, you're not in a good mood, I get it, alright? I _get _it. Just tell me when you drop the act and start acting like Sakura again."

"No, Tenten-"

"No, it's fine." The brunette picked up her plate. "I'm going to head to the room, see you guys later."

As she started to leave, Neji and Hinata excused themselves, saying they were going to keep her company. Naruto also got up, but not before giving her a knowing look. The boy had so many hidden complexities and was quick to assess and understand the situation.

Sakura felt guilt burn in her chest as she sat dejectedly in her chair. A small movement from her right caught her attention, and she looked at her enemy. "Why are _you_ still here?"

Kiba caught her eyes and she felt the breath catch in her throat, but could not fathom why her body was reacting this way. The moment was broken as he nodded his head towards the tray of food that suddenly looked really lonely without the added four plates surrounding it. "Can't let it go to waste." He shrugged. "At least, not before going through me."

"Ha, ha." She replied dully.

"What is your _problem_? Why are you being such a piss-off today?" His tone had changed, she could feel it, and it made her guilt dig deeper.

For some reason, she couldn't stop herself. Sakura _knew_ she was being a brat. She _knew_ she was being unnecessarily moody. Her mind was telling her to shut up, to be quiet, to _stop talking_, but her mouth betrayed her.

"Why is today any diff-"

"This isn't about you and me, this is about Tenten." He sighed, pushing his plate away. Kiba zoned his attention on the pink-haired girl. "Don't take your anger out on her, she's just worried about you."

"Can you just leave, like everyone else? Please?" She could feel her lips dry, her face heat up, her eyes prickle and start to water. She heard Kiba groan, slapping a hand against his head.

"Seiichi would kill me if I left her like this." He muttered quietly under his breath, making sure it went unheard by the pink haired girl beside him. Crying girls were such a _pain_. Sure, he had been in this situation tons of times (the older sister was a hopeless romantic, back in the day), but Kiba never understood what to do in this situation. "Seriously, what is your problem?" Hm, maybe not the best way to go. But he was Kiba, and Kiba was the improvident kind of guy- talk before thought.

"I haven't seen my brother in _days_, my best friend _hates_ me, the stupid _Sasuke_ problem, my period, and I'm spilling out all my problems to _you_!" Sakura's voice raised a few volumes and she ignored the annoyed faces that turned to see what the commotion was. Her voice quieted and her shoulders began quivering. "I just.." She choked back a sob, hand moving up to clutch her necklace and hold it against her heart. "I miss my brother. And Tenten." And three seconds later, the green-eyed girl broke into tears.

"Oh shit. Oh no." Kiba cursed under his breath. He made a move to get out of his seat, but sat down shortly after deciding that leaving her wasn't such a good idea. Instead, he pulled his chair closer to his, and grabbed a napkin from the table. "Here. Don't be such a crybaby, Sakura. You're overreacting."

"I miss _Seiichi_." Her whole body was shaking and her chest was burning, but she plucked the napkin out of Kiba's hands anyways. "This... This has Naruto's... _lip stains_ all over it." With that said, she broke out into another fit of sobs.

"What the-" He snatched the napkin away from her and threw it on the floor on impulse. He searched desperately for a tissue, but failed miserably. "Er-"

"Can you please..." She sniffed, hands raising up to rub at her eyes. This only smeared her tears all around her face. "Please, just be nice to me right now?"

Kiba stared at her confusedly. Had she not just told him to leave her alone? He obliged, nevertheless. "What do you want me to-"

Sakura stood up abruptly and gripped his wrist. Her hand was still wet from her tears and the wetness dried against his skin. Wordlessly, she led him outside and leaned against the rail of the ship. All the while, he watched her behavior, bewildered. Sure, they weren't _real_ enemies. If anything, they were just used to pissing each other off. Despite all this, Kiba had never had a real heart-to-heart conversation with his best friend's sister, even though they were always near each other and had gone to school with each other all their lives. His gut told him that continuing on with what Sakura wanted would result in one, and he wouldn't lie- it would be extremely weird.

"I miss Seiichi." Sakura repeated, her voice barely above a whisper. Her fingers trailed along the cold rail and she simply stood there, watching the waves clash with each other and the image of the distorted moon in the water, as she had been doing a lot lately.

The Inuzuka had to bite his tongue to fight the urge to retort. It had become instinct over the years and was a habit that he didn't think he'd ever be able to break out of.

"I haven't even talked to him since the other day. Greeted, yes, but talked, no. I mean, he's my _twin brother_. We used to talk all the time." He opened his mouth to speak, but she started again. "I just.. Everything's complicated. And-" She couldn't finish her sentence. The tears welled up once again and Kiba unconsciously stepped back.

"I _hate_ Sasuke. I hate how I can't stop talking even though I know I'm being a bitch." At this point, she looked like a mess- nose starting to water, eyes red and puffy, lips dried, cheeks smeared, hair sticking to her face in a mess of pink. "I-" She took a deep breath, trying to calm her heavy breaths and sobs. "Can I... have a hug?"

Kiba's eyes widened. Oh hell _no_. That violated the male code. Any form of intimacy (which hugging _was_) with his best friend's _twin_ was certainly not aloud. Besides, they '_hated_'' each other. But, as he watched her shaking figure and heard her crying, all resolve fell flat. For some reason, he felt a stinging pain in his chest when he saw her like that. Not fond of the feeling, he pushed his closed fist hard against his chest and breathed out. With his free hand, he grabbed one of her shoulders and turned her to face him.

Shocked sea-foam green eyes looked up at him.

He looked straight down at her, in the worst crying state he had ever seen her since they were young and silly. The stinging only hurt more.

And slowly, he pulled her to his chest, wrapping his arm around her small body. He could feel her breathing stop short and he pushed her head down just below his shoulder. She relaxed, but did not move her arms to reciprocate.

It was something new and different, but not totally uncomfortable.

"Thank-you." She whispered as her hands wrapped around his stomach. Sakura felt like she was in a dream (possibly a nice nightmare, because this was _Kiba_ whose arms she was in). Everything seemed too surreal. Her life was supposed to be _simple_, so why was everything crashing down today?

He didn't know what to say. His first thought told him to say something to get things back to normal. How it was _supposed _to be. Kiba opted to stay silent, for once, and just continued to hold the girl in his arms.

It was totally wrong, against all the rules and the past eleven-something years of their lives, but somehow, neither of them minded.

After all, it was just a _hug_.

**.o.o.o.**

"Tenten?" Hinata knocked on the door softly. Neji had decided that leaving the girls to figure things out would be best, because he certainly would be of no help. Prior to knocking, Hinata had been pacing in front of room 416 for approximately three minutes. The heiress didn't know how to approach the situation. Reminding herself that she needed to be more spontaneous, Hinata resorted in going head-first. Go in, say hi, and see what happens.

The door swung open and Hinata made her way in as Tenten climbed back up the ladder of her bunk bed and buried herself beneath her blankets.

"Are... Are you okay?" Hinata asked hesitantly. She followed Tenten's example and sat at the foot of the bed, ducking her head down to avoid hitting the ceiling. She shifted for a few seconds before finalizing in a criss-cross position beside Tenten's feet. "If you're upset about Sakura-"

"It's not Sakura." Her head was buried deep into her pillow, and Hinata could barely make out the mumbled words.

"Oh. Um.." Hinata blinked and folded her hands together. She was stumped. "Do you mind me asking what the problem is, then?" Her mind cheered her on for the save.

"I think," The brunette flipped her body around, giving Hinata a view of her face. The only thing that changed was a slight disappointment in her chocolate brown eyes. "That I might be..." Her eyes fell downcast as she propped herself up on her elbows. "Jealous. Of Sakura. Okay, maybe it _is_ about Sakura, but it's mostly myself." She sighed and focused on the ceiling, falling back onto her pillow. "I know, it's stupid, but-"

"No," Hinata paused. A thoughtful expression was displayed on her face. "She... has a lot of admirable qualities."

"It's not just that." Tenten spoke up after a minute of silence. "To me, it seems like she has everything, you know? A rich family, a great brother, good grades, amazing friends, loved by everyone. _Uchiha Sasuke_ just asked her out. The majority of guys I know have had a crush on her in one point in their lives- whether it be a small puppy crush, or the full blown-out infatuation. I even heard she was Naruto's first _love_. But that's understandable, because she's _gorgeous_, right?"

As Tenten continued to talk, everything she was explaining was starting to piece together in Hinata's head.

"She has someone amazing who just may love her right in front of her right now, and has been for a decade, but she refuses to let go of some stupid childhood disagreements. Honestly, I can't think of one time where something has gone terribly wrong in her life. I just wish something- _anything_ would happen to make it less fucking picture-perfect." Tenten covered her face in her hands and groaned. "I'm such a bad friend. I shouldn't be talking about her like this."

Hinata's shoulders sagged and she felt something short of disappointment creep into her own body. Not for Sakura or Tenten, but for herself. "I understand." She said in a soft voice. "She... She can be a lot to live up to."

"Yeah." Her voice was barely above a whisper as she moved her hands away. "I wish my life could be a little more like hers. I think I'm just disappointed in myself. I may not care for dating, but it would be nice to have someone tell me that they like me."

The Hyuuga nodded in agreement, though it went unseen by the other girl.

_Me too_.

**A/N:** **Lots of foreshadowing in this chapter, so keep your eyes open. ****And I think I might've fallen into obsession with LiveJournal, so feel free to add!**

Chapter started- 3/22/08, chapter finished- 5/4/08, chapter posted- 5/05/08.


	7. Chapter Seven

**Like a Walk in the Park **

**By xxhikari E**

**Summary - AU The students of Shiniko High School and Takatori Academy are arch rivals. A over summer cruise is set out to attempt to change that. Sakura x Kiba.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything you recognize.**

**A/N: **I think I'm in desperate need of a new summary. Like, really. The regular excuses: finals, end of school, vacation, volunteering. Chyeah. Beware, you are now entering totally and completely cliché teenage drama. Cover your eyes! (And yes, the flashback is a total filler, but it's also an intro to future flashbacks in later chapters) After all, what's a Naruto AU High school fanfiction without over-the-top, unbelievable, totally blown out of proportion drama?

**Extra-note: **I still don't have a beta, but it doesn't matter. Notify me if there's a mistake, and I'll correct it. I usually end up editing and re-posting dozens of times by myself, anyways.

**Extra-extra-note: **06/30- Um, I took the chapter down for a bit, because I was honestly confused. I haven't been receiving any alerts recently (up until now, at least) and I didn't know if no one was updating, or what. Soo, yeah. Anyone else have the same problem?

**Chapter Seven**

**- **11 years, 2 weeks, and 5 days ago** -**

Pudgy fingers gripped the blue-green crayon (Crayola, of course) tightly as Sakura colored the off-white construction paper with thick streaks.

Big emerald-green eyes looked enviously at the other children who were also coloring, but sharing materials amongst their friends with laughs and chatter.

This was not meant to say that she was alone at her table. The five-going-on-six-year old Shikamaru was sitting at the very end of Table #2, a blank sheet in front of him and a bright-red crayon loosely hanging from his fingers. Sakura was puzzled as to why his face was resting on the table while he was (supposedly) coloring, but waved it off as intense concentration, like her daddy did most of the time.

From a distance, she could see her twin brother and his newest best friend hiding behind the plastic refrigerator in the area where everyone would play 'house' during free time. She knew that behind the refrigerator was a shelf holding all the wooden blocks and cars that her classmates usually used to build towers for the purpose of knocking them down before the teachers could see.

A light crash and topple was heard, followed by light snickering and Seiichi's head poking up from their hiding place and eyes checking to see if the teacher was aware.

She was jealous, she knew. Her brother used to always sit right next to her and talk to her while they colored, until the stupid (she hesitated, before using this word, because she remembered her mommy said it was rude and un-lady-like and also because Teacher had put Sasuke-kun on the bench for calling Naruto 'stupid' during recess yesterday) new boy came along and stole _her_ best friend.

That's right, she said it (in her head, but what counted was that it was established). Inuzuka Kiba was a _stupid friend stealer_.

From that day on, she promised that she would hate him forever.

**-**

Kiba didn't know how long he had been standing there, holding Sakura in his arms. He could see curious students looking over and commenting quietly to their peers. Already, he could hear the rumors rising. Despite this, he chose to ignore the gossip-hungry teenagers and focus on what was important at the moment.

He wondered what would happen after.

On one hand, they could pretend none of this had ever happened and revert back to name-calling and insults. This sounded like the likely outcome. It didn't require any explanation, but relied on a mutual understanding. If he were to pretend that nothing had changed between them, she would too. It wasn't what he would've wanted, but it was the easy way out.

On the other hand, they could build up from where they were now. Kiba enjoyed teasing and annoying Sakura, it gave him something to do everyday, but sometimes he wished that they could just act like normal friends. He knew that if this was to happen, he would have to make the first move. Unfortunately, most of the time, Kiba's pride got in the way. Inuzuka Kiba is _never_ the first to back down (most of the time).

"Hey," He whispered to her softly as he gently pulled her blotchy and tear-streaked face from his soaked t-shirt. Lips formed into a slight frown upon looking at her distressed form. "I'll take you to your room-"

"No!" Sakura sounded horrified that he would even suggest it, which left Kiba staring at her confused. "Please, I don't want to go."

The Inuzuka sighed, wondering how the hell he got himself into this mess. Oh, that's right! He wanted to finish eating his delicious Italian dinner and at that time was unaware that this could possibly have been a consequence. "You have to go eventually, they'll be checking the room soon." This was a guess, of course, since he hadn't had the time to check his cell phone for the time, but the amount of people that still loitered among the deck led him to believing it was true.

"I.. I don't want to see her right now. If I see her, I'm going to have to talk to her." She took in a big breath in order to calm her nerves. It was not as efficient as she would have liked, but shook the anxiety that felt as if it was weighing down her shoulders off.

"You know what I'm going to say, right?" Kiba looked at her expectantly. He looked down at her as she recited the well-known lecture about facing fears head-on and was suddenly extremely aware that he was still holding his best friend's sister in his arms. A weird feeling swirled in his chest, and he knew what he was facing.

Inuzuka Kiba was no idiot, he knew attraction when he felt it.

And as much as he hated to admit it, this was definitely it.

-

After escorting his cousin and Tenten to their room, Neji decided that he needed to know what the hell was up. Although he would never admit it out loud, Hinata meant more to him than just a person to protect, and any drama among friends would eventually come back to drag her in too.

"Haruno."

Emerald eyes blinked open. From his previously relaxed position on the couch, he rose up and stretched. "Neji." He greeted the man with a nod.

Neji's expression did not waver as he stood in front of the twin. "Sakura has been looking for you."

Seiichi sighed, sitting back down on the cushioned seat. He ran a hand through his jet black hair and leaned back. "I've been avoiding her, I know."

What? Why would he do that for? "I think you should talk to her."

Seiichi raised an eyebrow at the another guy, as if to ask 'are you serious?'. _This_ was ironic. "I know that, too."

Neji shifted his weight to his other leg. He shouldn't have bothered trying to fix other people's problems. It wasn't his business and he did not know what triggered him to approach Seiichi on the subject. Despite all that, he was a Hyuuga, and a Hyuuga (normally) did not walk away with unfinished business. "Why don't you?"

"Because," Seiichi paused, eyes clouded over. There was no good way to say what he had to say without revealing too much information. "Because I don't know how to tell her."

Pearl eyes looked inquiringly at him, and he was prompted to continue.

"See, I have this problem." He started, hands gesticulating. "And this problem... Well, let's just say it's a pretty big problem." With another nod, he kept speaking. "It's been going on for a very long time- as long as I can remember, but it hasn't been _that_ big of a problem until now." His words were jumbled, and Seiichi wondered if the Hyuuga was keeping up with his in-articulate speaking. "But everything is happening faster than predicted, and soon I won't have to worry about it anymore, because I won't be here to worry about it anymore. It's complicated."

Neji nodded, not fully comprehending, but understanding it just enough. He wasn't called a prodigy because of his (gorgeously handsome) looks or (lack of) personality.

It was almost like a sliding puzzle. So many possible directions, scenarios, decisions- but ultimately, only one ending.

A problem.

_Click, click._

A _very_ big problem.

_Click, click, click._

A very big lifelong problem.

_Reverse, click, click._

A very big lifelong problem, that grows more serious over time.

_Rotate, click, click, click._

The problem will be gone.

_Click, click, click, click._

He won't be around to worry about it.

_Click._

Neji's eyes widened a fraction of an inch and he stared straight into the eyes of the man in front of him, who's face long since faded into a wry smile. As if he could read his mind, Seiichi nodded in confirmation, looking to floor in an attempted escape from the horrible feeling ripping in his chest.

It was out in the open, now. Seiichi could only hope Neji would keep quiet about it, at least until he could tell Sakura and Kiba. Seiichi knew that telling them himself would be one hundred times harder, with five-hundred times the pain, but it had to be done.

The room was completely silent, anticipation building up with every second.

With one last look, Neji nodded his head at the boy, backing up and turning away to leave the room. It was an unspoken agreement.

Neji clenched his fist, hard. Realization was creeping through his body as he walked through the halls of the ship. His normally stoic appearance was waning in small flashes. This was a secret he knew he had to keep, and like the honorable man he was raised to be, he would.

This didn't stop the discomfort that reigned freely through his body. To know, never minding how long he had known the Haruno, the fate that was bound to come was an unpleasant feeling. It hurt to know that there wasn't anything he could do to change it.

Haruno Seiichi was dying.

-

"Go in."

"No."

"Go in, _now_."

"No."

"Haruno."

"_No_."

Kiba groaned, ready to pound his head repeatedly into the nearest wall. "You know, I don't have to stay here with you."

"So why are you?" Her response was snappy, and Sakura inwardly winced. She had done it again. She knew that he really did not deserve any mistreatment after he had stayed outside with her and listened to her whine and complain about her life. Especially since she was his supposed enemy.

Labels were a funny thing, among teenagers. You could call someone your best friend, and rarely ever talk to them with full honestly. An enemy was no different.

His brown eyes connected with hers, holding them for what seemed like forever. "You know why I am." Not an entirely true statement, after Kiba's abrupt revelation.

Sakura looked down, breaking the contact. She knew, of course. Because he felt obligated. Because she was his best friend's sister. Because she latched onto him before he could leave, and was now stuck babysitting her until she was fine by herself.

"They're checking in ten minutes, I have to get to my room." He stated. The arm that she was so desperately clutching shook away from her grasp lightly. "Just go in."

She stood in front of the door, building up possible scenarios of what would ensue once she stepped into the room. She constructed lines and ideas to say, hoping to boost the conversation from the inevitable awkwardness to one that was at least somewhat-okay.

"I'll... I'll be here in the morning if you need me." It sounded weird, Sakura decided, coming from Kiba, but responded only with a soft 'goodnight'.

"Night." He was already walking away.

Her legs moved before she could stop them, and Sakura officially concluded that she had no control over any of her actions. Her hand caught his in an awkward grip, as their fingers clashed uncomfortably with each other.

"... Thank-you." He never looked back at her, but she saw his head nod in response. She loosened her hold and watched him walk away.

"Anytime." Kiba said, so quietly that it was almost impossible to hear.

She might have been imagining things, but she allowed herself to believe that her ears had not deceived her. With a hint of a smile, she opened the door.

Darkness greeted her and she stumbled slightly over a pair of shoes before kicking off her own and changing into her pyjamas.

Sakura was glad that everyone was already sleeping in bed. She would rather talk it out in the morning than immediately. It was going to be hard, and someone was going to get hurt, but she couldn't spend the rest of the vacation holding a grudge that shouldn't be there.

Clad in one of Seiichi's oversized shirts (that she oh-so sneakily snatched from his room a couple months prior) and Takatori gym shorts, Sakura slid beneath her covers and stared up at the bunk above her.

If she knew Tenten well enough (and she really hoped she did), everything would be back to normal soon.

Sakura pondered over what to say the next morning, when the inevitable would come.

The door unexpectedly flew open, and Sakura closed her eyes and feigned sleep. A light pat on her head informed her that Kakashi-sensei and Anko had visited.

Not two minutes later, the teachers were out and Sakura had sprung up into sitting position.

Sleeping wouldn't come easy for her.

She flipped her blanket to the side with a swift motion, rolled off her bed, and approached the short wooden ladder leading to Tenten's bunk.

Slowly, the Haruno made her way up the ladder and softly sunk into the mattress as to not wake up her friend.

Sakura reached over and pulled the light blanket up to Tenten's neck. She brushed the short brunette strands that were falling over her best friend's eyes to the side.

"I'm sorry." She whispered. With a light pat on the shoulder, she returned to her bed.

Sakura didn't notice Tenten's eyes open as she left.

-

Kiba left his room early in the morning. He had been unable to sleep the whole night. How could he like his best friend's sister as more than a friend? Actually, how did he even manage to admit that he liked the girl at all? He could always blame the heat of the sun or motion sickness.

Maybe he didn't even _have_ to blame anything, because the feelings weren't real- it actually _was_ the rocking motion of the ship and-

He was obviously lying to himself, but he couldn't let it get out that he liked Sakura. He did place money on that bed, after all, and he had a reputation to uphold.

With any other mass of people, he was confident that a lie like that would be hit before it even reached home.

But, with this crowd, it would undoubtedly work. That he knew.

Takatori students were gossip-hungry _beasts_, and combined with the (still-hated-on) Shiniko students now, even the smallest scandals would be blown out of proportion to the point where any statements (false or not) would add on to the drama.

It was practically a universal rule for teenagers all around the world. Create drama where there is none.

Kiba decided that unless she made the first move (which unlikely to the point that only cows dancing on the ship in broad daylight could compare), he would pretend none of it ever happened. If she decided she didn't need to come to him for help, then his role was done. It wasn't the best way to handle things. He had spent most of the night debating on it, and figured that he would never reach a decision.

_Ignorance is bliss_.

The one cliché that Kiba felt was right, no matter the situation.

He was going to ignore the feelings, they would go away eventually.

Everything would be back to normal soon, anyways.

**-**

Kiba wasn't the only early riser. Before any of her roommates had even awakened, Hyuuga Hinata was already out and moseying around on the deck. Few people were scattered around. A couple of small groups were present, but most were individuals just staring off into the sky. She spotted Shikamaru lounging on a foldout, who was obviously staring up at the nearly cloudless sky.

What was between Sakura and Tenten wasn't her business, and as much as she wanted to support both her friends, she also didn't want to get involved.

She was new to seeing drama up-close (of course, who wouldn't be if they hung out with Hyuuga Neji most of their lives?), but was not an idiot.

The heiress sat at the edge of the pool, slipping off her sandals and dipped her feet into the pool. As soon as she deemed the water okay, she maneuvered herself to sit so as much of her legs could be submerged as possible.

The thoughts brought her back to the conversation with Tenten.

The brunette was oblivious to her own beauty. Hinata knew that if Tenten put even the slightest bit of effort in her appearance, that some guys would see her as more approachable and maybe ask her out.

"_Boo_!"

Hinata shrieked as two hands gave a sudden thrust on her back and her body was inconveniently tossed into the pool with a loud splash.

Being completely unprepared for the push, Hinata lingered at the bottom of the pool for a short period of time. She could hear loud talking, but the words were mumbled and indiscernible. She emerged, gasping for breath and eyes seeking out the culprit.

"Shit, Hinata, I'm sorry."

Who else?

She couldn't manage a reply and only stared at the blond, bewildered.

Uzumaki Naruto stood there, hand behind his head and sheepish smile on his face. "I didn't mean to scare you- I mean, I did, but I didn't mean to make you fall into the pool."

It was unfair that his eyes were beautiful.

Hinata was able to squeak out an 'It's okay' before being aware of her current situation.

She certainly did not leave her room dressed for a dip in the pool, and was presently floating in water while wearing cropped jeans and a simple t-shirt. Getting out would be a drag, since the laws of gravity would never miss a chance to make it harder for her to stand.

"Here, I'll help you out." Another smile.

Hinata resisted the urge to flush red, but fate never passed up an opportunity to make her situation a little more awkward, either.

Naruto's tan arms reached out expectantly, and Hinata placed her small hands into his large ones, confused.

What was he going to do, yank her out of there?

_Yes_.

In a sudden movement, Hinata was pulled straight out of the pool with extreme force.

His hands suddenly left hers and caught her at her hips.

She unintentionally humored him with a high-pitched squeal and in turn, was rewarded with being twirled around before Naruto finally placed her back onto the floor of the deck.

"Wow, Hinata. You really need to eat more. My backpack weighs more than you." Big cerulean eyes speculated her with great interest.

His hands were still resting lightly at her sides and Hinata felt his warmth through the thin material of her shirt as she struggled to get words out of her mouth. Hinata had honestly thought she was making progress yesterday, when she burst into room 416 and chatted with Tenten, unrehearsed. This, though, was a totally different situation. Never in her _life_ would she had expected to be sitting in peace one minute, falling in a pool the next, yanked out, and then unceremoniously twirled around in the air by a handsome blond boy whom she had just began associating with because of new friends from a rival school.

It was just one of the things Hinata never prepared herself for.

But then again, being spontaneous left no room for preparation.

"Hinata?" Naruto's joking expression shifted into concern effortlessly, and Hinata blurted out the first thing her mind could throw at her.

"That must be one heavy backpack you have." Inwardly, the heiress was smashing her head against a brick wall repeatedly. She flushed a deeper shade of red, if possible.

_Way to go, girl_.

The Uzumaki looked down at her blushing face and only grinned in response. "Yeah, it's pretty heavy."

"Um, do you mind..." Hinata looked down at her feet, which were directly in front of his own. In her head, she could hear the girls in the Shiniko gym locker room, '_You know what they say about a guy's feet_.' Insert giggle here. Her cheeks could not darken anymore, thank goodness.

"Not at all, I mean if I wanted to make it lighter I could always just take some stuff out." Naruto shrugged, oblivious of the clear awkwardness that was bestowed in the girl's eyes. His fingers unconsciously began drumming at the side of her hips.

At that very moment, Hinata finally knew what girls meant when they said they 'felt butterflies' in their stomachs.

Not wanting so seem impolite, she offered a smile at the blond, who reciprocated it with one that was ten times bigger. "Excuse me, but I think I should go dry off now."

"Oh. Alright." He released his hold on her and she visibly relaxed. "May I escort the lady to her room?" His arm out and waiting for her again. "After all, I can't leave you walking around drenched. What kind of gentlemen would I be if I don't protect you from those mean, criticizing people?" A charming grin.

Sakura and Tenten weren't kidding when they told her his smile was contagious.

Wordlessly, Hinata looped her arm around his with a smile gracing her face.

They walked companionably and Hinata listened as Naruto ranted about random stuff, releasing laughs and giggles frequently. When they exited the elevator, realization stuck Hinata and she froze halfway out.

Naruto moved to tug Hinata and walk down the hallway, but she stood still.

"Hinata?"

"Tenten and Sakura might be awake right now, and I want to let them talk this out by themselves." She stated softly. Hinata could hardly believe she almost forgot. It was the reason why she left her room in the first place. She didn't know how long she was gone for, but the girls were bound to be awake and in conversation soon anyways. Walking in on them wouldn't be a good idea.

Naruto sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "Those girls..." He looked down at the small and petite navy-haired girl beside him. "I don't know what's gotten into her." He muttered to himself. "Well, first things first, we need to get you dry again."

Hinata nodded, giving him a smile in thanks. She was glad he didn't question her any further about the situation, because she was confused herself.

"How about we stop by my room." Naruto suggested, already tugging her into the elevator that they held once again. "I'll get you an extra towel and a pair of clothes."

Another blush fleeted across her cheeks. She would be wearing Naruto's clothes. What would other people say about that? They would start rumors and-

"Don't worry about what other people will say." He said knowingly, and she was suddenly really glad it was him that found her this morning. "They don't matter."

"Alright." At the sight of his smile, she couldn't help but smile back.

The elevator ride was accompanied by a comfortable silence, with both members pondering over different things.

"Will your roommates mind?" Her question shook Naruto from his reverie. "I mean, it's still early in the morning, and I wouldn't want to intrude..."

"It's fine." His shoulders lifted in a shrug. "Shikamaru's out napping on the deck, Lee's probably in the gym, and I don't know about the bastard, but he's probably out, too." The blond's hand slid from it's original position to hold her hand as they walked.

The butterflies were having a party now, in Hinata's stomach, and creeping through her spine. Naruto didn't even seem to notice the intimate action that had just occurred.

"If you don't mind me asking, why are you up so early?" Naruto didn't strike her as the early-riser at all, but as the kind of guy who would sleep in until someone forcibly dragged him out of his bed and threw cold water at his face.

"I was hoping to cheer someone up."

The millionth blush of the day almost brushed across her face, until thoughts from last night flew through her head.

_She was Naruto's first love_.

Was it possible that he was still in love with Sakura? And that Sakura was the one he was referring to?

Hinata didn't know why, but she felt like crying. Of course, it was extremely likely. They had a history together, and were still close now. She wanted, _so badly_, to ask. It would be rude, and she didn't want to come off the wrong way.

Her heart pinched at the thought.

"Oh."

Her mind was screaming at her to just ask. To at least have _some_ sort of clue so her heart would stop hurting.

"D-do you still..." Inhale, exhale. "Do you still love Sakura?"

"Of course." Her breath caught in her throat as he said it, so casually, although the question was completely random. "I'm always going to love Sakura, but not in the same way Kiba does." His eyes connected with her's briefly, and his signature smile was on again.

Hinata let out a small smile, and looked down at her feet. His hold on her hand had tightened, she noticed.

Wait.. _What_?

As Naruto fiddled with the door to room 257, Hinata was trying to understand what he had just said.

The door flew open and Hinata saw that it was almost an exact replica of her own, except it looked as if a herd of dogs went through it, multiple times.

He finally dropped her hand and dug through the mirror-closet for an extra towel.

"Kiba loves Sakura?" Hinata finally managed to utter out. It shouldn't have come as a shock to her, anyone with eyes could see the chemistry brewing between the pair. But _like_ was one thing, _love_ was entirely different. She reflexively caught the bright orange towel that was thrown at her followed by the plain grey t-shirt and a pair of midnight-blue shorts that read _Shiniko Boys' Basketball Team_.

"Correction, milady." Naruto chided playfully. "Kiba is in love with Sakura. He just doesn't know it yet."

Hinata nodded in understanding and walked toward the bathroom. Before she could even knock on the door, it flung open with a slam and the Hyuuga winced at the sound.

Uchiha Sasuke walked out, and Hinata could see that he did _not_ look happy to see her. In her peripheral vision, she saw Naruto walk to her side and pull her behind him.

The two boy glared at each other and Hinata fiddled with the clothes in her hand nervously. If she remembered correctly, the two were best friends. At that moment, Hinata was finding it really hard to believe.

Sasuke was the first to break the contact and march out of the room, slamming the door again behind him.

"Don't worry about him, he always has a stick up his ass." Naruto said. He lightly pushed her into the bathroom and closed the door behind her. "Come out when you're finished, and I will take you to breakfast, okay?"

"Okay."

"Alright, it's a date, then." Naruto grinned as he said this and silence followed.

But he could practically _hear_ her blushing.

After all, he wasn't _completely_ clueless.

**A/N:** I actually might take this down later, and fix it. So, uh, yeah. My Naruto and writing phase is dying out (I stopped reading and watching Autumn '07). I don't get as many alerts as I used to, too, so I must not be the only one. I said there would be drama, the severity of it doesn't matter :D . I felt as if it became a little _too_ depressing, so I added a bit (more like a helluva lot) of Naruto/Hinata for any of you fans out there. Tell me if I'm taking the drama too far, and I'll tone it down and try again. A lot of you often comment about my realism, and I'm sorry if I disappointed you in this chapter.

Chapter started- 06/26/08, chapter finished- 06/28/08, chapter posted- 06/28/08


	8. Author's Note! Not an update

Dear readers,

It is currently January 2011 and it has been about two and a half years since my last update. I don't really have much of an excuse, besides the usual—school, family, friends, change of interests. I started this story when I was 12 (oh dear, it sounds so young now) and in a handful of months, I'll be turning 18. The reason I'm writing this is because I recently got a review alert in my old e-mail (shocker, since it's been ages since my last update) and it brought me back to this story.

I actually read this entire story yesterday, because I honestly couldn't remember anything, and I can't even count the number of times I cringed and wondered why you all stuck around to read what would come next. I've since edited the first two chapters briefly—just for some minor grammar errors that had annoyed me. First of all, none of the leading characters are really in character and I created a super-cool-twin-brother out of nowhere and then pretty much sentenced him to death. Huh. I imagine that not long after deciding to do this, the giant slump came. Before, when I wrote those chapters, I had no idea what it was like to know someone with a sickness. Things have changed, and although I think I understand enough to capture the emotions, I don't think it's something I would be comfortable writing about. I don't know what I was thinking when I wrote that part in, but I think it might've had something to do with realizing that I had thrown Seiichi in as a new character without any purpose. There are so many loopholes and a million other things that bothered me while reading this, but I kind of enjoyed it. It was kind of fun to see the evolution of my writing over the years.

I think in my last chapter, I stated that many Naruto writers were leaving the scene because the craze was starting to die off and since then, I haven't touched a Naruto manga or looked up an episode—until last week, at least. Circumstances have changed and now that I'm a senior in high school with little left to do after the school day besides hang around with friends, the amount of free time I've had has increased. This isn't to say that I'd start writing again—I don't know if I'm capable of writing stories anymore. I don't know how many of you (my former readers, haha) are still reading this, but if there are enough of you that still want to see an end to this, I could try and put up an effort. Of course, I might have to change some parts of the story (death, I don't think I can handle,) and I don't know how much my writing style has dulled over the years, but if you guys are still in, I guess I'm in. I can't promise anything, however, since it's only the second week of the semester and my light workload may just be due to timing.

If you read this entire note, then you're amazing. Thanks for sticking around and maybe I'll be around again soon!

Xxhikari E


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